


Kai and Jinora: Influence

by Anniered



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 09:27:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3645228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anniered/pseuds/Anniered
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Contains: adult themes/ dark themes/ sexual content] The Air Nation settles into the Eastern Air Temple for an extended period, Tenzin's idea for restoration and reconnection a year after the attack on Republic City. Kai and Jinora are thrilled to be in the same place indefinitely, but, it is not to last. A single event unfolds, and it seems nobody can help. (kainora, jinkai)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Adjustment

**_1._ ** **_Adjustment_ **

He tried his hardest to sit still, to not crack a joke or accidentally start laughing, _this is serious..._ He thought. He tried his hardest to focus on the sensations of the air caressing his body, hear it whistle and sigh, like a contented spirit. " _Let your own spirit be guided by the wind!"_ Tenzin had said to them all earlier, thought they had heard it all before, " _Let it lift you from the physical world and to places you can scarcely imagine…"_ for the millionth time it circled his scruffy head.

He tried to take this aspect of his life seriously.

He really did, though he thought he would have adjusted after five years of being an airbender.

He would constantly and thoroughly promise himself that he was trying his hardest, knowing it was a lie.

Kai peeked carefully through his eyelashes, he was perched on the edge of the highest balcony in the Eastern Air Temple, their new place of residence for the next seven years, but this is not what had his attention. The landscape stretched out beautifully around him in every direction, as far has his eyes could see, but _this_ could not keep his attention. Sky bison circled around the temple, groaning and soaring, airbenders chasing them, some using their gliders, some using their flying suits. But, this did not interest him.

The sun was setting, casting soft orange and crimson rays across the left side of the young woman sitting before him.

Her eyes closed, shoulders back, legs crossed, and tattoos radiant.

This is what had his attention.

The late afternoon breeze picked up a tiny purple spirit, it floated gently under her nose. _Would she hit me if I shooed it away?_ He thought, leaning forward, he stopped and sat back, _Nah… She likes them_ …

He sighed audibly and her eyes opened to the sound, he tried to shut his quickly, hoping she wouldn't catch him staring at her, but he knew she saw. He opened one slightly and smiled sheepishly at her, she smiled warmly back. _Everything about her is warm,_ he thought, his eyes flickered to her mouth, still stretched into a kind smile, he felt himself blush. "I- _err_ … Are you cold?" he asked quickly, she had cut her hair short for the coming summer season, and she was as beautiful as ever, but he thought that having short hair would make her cold.

She smiled again and let her eyes close, "No," she peaked at him with one eye, "An airbender can warm themselves with their breath, remember?"

"Ah, yes… _Right_ … That lesson thing on the mountain. Same as the one last year… And three years before that." Kai mumbled awkwardly, twiddling his thumbs in his lap, she closed he eyes again. A few minutes later, "Are you hungry?"

She sighed lightly, leaving her eyes closed, "Asami made us afternoon tea just over an hour ago." A small smiled played on her lips, "You drank two peanut butter milkshakes and challenged Bolin and Meelo to a 'cookie-comp'… Which Meelo won."

"Yeah, because he cheated." Kai grumbled, relaxed his arms in his lap and scowled. Korra and her friends were visiting the temple for an unspecified period of time, Kai loved having them around, they were the first people to accept him, _kind of.._.

Jinora shrugged lightly, "Eating competitions run in the family. Grand-uncle Sokka taught Bumi… Bumi taught Meelo, Ikki and I."

"Do you think _you_ could beat me?" Kai smiled cheekily, relaxing his pose and placing his arms out behind him, leaning back.

"Most likely." She took another breath and continued to meditate, Kai scrunched up his nose, trying to think of a brilliant conversation topic.

"Who do you think would win out of-" Kai started but the look of disapproval Jinora cast at him silenced him.

"Shh _hh_ hh." She hushed, a small, irritated smile on her lips.

He bit his lip and looked around himself again, he suddenly smiled as he created a tiny whirlwind in his hand and sent it towards her. She swatted the petite torrent of air away and glowered at him, "Kai, I am _trying_ to meditate." Jinora said, while her tone was still somewhat light, her glare was not.

"But you are always meditating! Come on! Let's go have some fun! This is the first time we have been in the same place for more than two weeks, we could do anything!"

"That is because I am a _master_ now." She huffed, choosing to ignore his guilt trip attempt, "I need to meditate!"

He pursed his lips, his eyes settled next to her, a handful of spirits were curled up around her legs, "Look! Even the spirits are bored!"

"They aren't bored!" Jinora said, looking down at them, she suddenly pouted when she realized they were all asleep, or at least in a sleep-like state. She looked up at Kai, he had a smug look on his face and his arms crossed cockily across his chest. Jinora scowled deeply at him, "Well! If _you_ don't like it," Kai lost all expression of smugness, "Maybe you should just go _away_ for a while."

"You know what, _fine_." Kai grumbled, standing and grabbing his staff, without looking away from her, "Meditating is _stupid_ , anyway." he spun his staff and opened it, having his flying-suit being mended. _Again_. Something he had become extremely good at, he pursed his lips and scowled as he turned away from her as he leapt from the roof and sored down the side of the temple.

…

" _Stupid_ meditation, and _stupid_ _consistent_ schedule." Kai grumbled, walking through the food court area of the Eastern Air Temple, _she is already a master! How much better can she get?!_ He grumbled internally. He spun his staff around in his hand and sighed, suddenly his internal grumbles were cut off by loud laughter, he rounded a corner to see Korra, Bolin, Mako, Asami, Opal and Bumi sitting at the bar passing a bottle around and filling tiny cups.

Kai used to hang around outside bars when he was on the street, drunk people were easier to pick-pocket. He snuck closer to the group, but he didn't want to be seen. He quickly examined Korra, he had learned the hard way that being around her was like walking on eggshells, she could go from her usual, happy-sassy-self; to closed-off and unable to communicate in minutes. He felt sorry for her, wishing he could help with whatever she was going through, Asami was the best at handling her during those moments. He sighed lightly and glanced at the beautifully crafted bar.

He was incredibly surprised to find that all of the Air Temples had bars. Kai secretly wished he could have found the bar at the Northern Air Temple before it was destroyed, he wondered idly if it would have been stocked. He eased closer to the adults, trying to hear what they were talking about, "-And then…" Bumi broke to laugh, all of the others laughed with him, "… Gramp-Gramp Hakoda stumbled and fell on the release peg, shooting the mine into the air… The blizzard caught it, spilling the ignition fuel into the cyclonic wind currents…" He was laughing again.

Opal was giggling into her drink, Bolin had his head thrown back, braying loudly with his arm around her. Korra and Asami sat trying to control themselves, wanting to hear the end of the story, Asami had her hand on Korra's knee, trying to keep herself in her chair. While next to them, Mako tried to fill his cup, his body shaking with laughter. Kai watched them from a distance, wanting to know what the story was about. "At that moment, grand-uncle Bato went and held his lantern up, having not seen Gramp-Gramp Hakoda fall… And… _And_! They ignited the fuel that was caught in the winds from the blizzard!" He was roaring with laughter, slapping his knee and downing his drink. "And that is how, my Gramp-Gramp and grand-uncle Bato started an uncontrollable fire… _In a blizzard_."

The entire group laughed loudly, Korra clapped her hands together and wiped her eye. "I guess you have proven me wrong, Bumi!" the Avatar laughed, "Should have guessed that your family would have crazier stories than mine."

"What can I say?" Bumi smiled widely, "They are a crazy bunch. I will tell you though, I still think that story about Asami meeting Iroh in the spirit world was one of the bes-" His eyes slid across the people sitting in front of him, when Kai caught his vision, his head poking around the end of the bar, Kai tried to duck it back, but he knew Bumi saw him. "Kai! Come around here and join us!"

Kai bit his lip and was about to sneak away when a strong hand caught his shoulder, "Didn't anyone tell you it is rude to eavesdrop?" Lin said, she shoved him lightly out in front of the group, he rubbed his shoulder, _that woman has an iron-grip!_ , "Pour me a glass, Commander." Lin ordered at Bumi.

Bumi smirked cheekily, "Anything for you, _Chief_." He slid the drink down the bar and she caught it. "What brings you across to my part of the world?" he continued with a genuine smile, sliding the whole bottle towards her after she shot her drink.

"I was told to take my ' _vacation'_ leave. And here I am, nowhere else much interests me." Her eyes slid across to Bumi, "Not that it is any of _your_ business."

"I _love_ it when you are _feisty_." Bumi winked, everyone tried to hide their giggles, watching Lin scowl and try to fight a smile. Kai had his nose screwed up at the adult's flirtatious banter, he felt awkward, standing there and looking around at everyone hinting things they _assumed_ were beyond his knowledge. He knew about love, sex and relationships, he knew who liked who, and he and some others had snuck away and read various raunchy scrolls that kept them crying until daylight. But, they were keeping the obviously sexual intent behind the jokes secret, but Kai knew they were there, he also knew what effect alcohol had on people.

"What brings you down here, little brother?" Bolin suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I thought you and Jinora would be meditating, or training." Opal smiled softly.

Kai shifted from one foot to the other, "I-I, um, decided to let her meditate on her own… So, she could… _Concentrate_." All of the adults exchanged a look.

"Ha! I know _that_ expression!" Bumi suddenly yelled, he hooked his fingers under a bar stool and pulled it up next to him, "Take a seat, Kai, and tell the world, what you said to upset the woman of your dreams!" Kai looked horrified at the fact that Bumi had picked up on something, that Kai had hoped, he had kept hidden. It wasn't a second later that Kai found himself in the bar stool and Bolin was diluting a shot, at the orders of Bumi.

"Bumi, Tenzin said that no alcohol until they are at least eighteen." Mako said nervously.

"Only out by two years…" Kai shrugged, interested in the drink they all had.

"Ha! Do we need to bring up _Tenzin's_ partying past? Just a few diluted shots! No harm done!" he chuckled. Mako looked nervously at Lin, she shrugged.

"I am not on duty. Besides, if it annoys Tenzin…" she took a sip from her own glass, smiling sneakily.

Bolin placed the cup in Kai's hand and urged him to drink, Kai raised an eyebrow as he brought the clear, swirling drink to his nose. "What is it?" he asked.

"Don't sniff. Just swallow it all in one go." Mako said, the whole group smiled in expectation, as Kai poured the entire contents into his mouth.

The taste of the liquid took over every part of his mouth, nose and throat. His pupils dilated and he spat the liquid all over Mako, Korra and Asami. Everyone laughed, Korra bended the liquid from their clothing and placed it gently back into the tiny cup in Kai's hand. " _Eeerrrggh_! That is terrible! _Ahhh_! My mouth is on _fire_!" Kai coughed, wiping his mouth and nose, which was now slightly runny.

"Toughen up, kid." Lin smirked, "You barely got any in your mouth."

"What _is_ it?!" Kai managed to get out, the taste still burned.

"Fire-shot liquid." Mako and Bolin managed to get out in unison, still laughing. "There are earthly aspects that have been added though." Mako continued.

"Don't worry, Kai." Korra said, "Swallow it. It gets better." She smiled, but something behind the smile faltered. Kai kept his eyes on hers as he tried again, this time, it went down. His body shuddered involuntarily as the liquid warmed him all the way to his stomach.

"Now!" Bumi smiled, "What did you do to piss-off the beautiful, young, Master Jinora?"

"I told her," he paused as Bolin topped up his cup with more diluted liquid, "That meditating was _boring_ …" Everyone mock gasped, Kai smirked lightly at them all, _at least they aren't taking her side_. "I mean, it is just that she always wants to do it now. That or training. And, it is the first time in four years that we have actually been in the same place for this long… I had big plans for us!"

"Oooooooh!" Bolin cooed, winking.

"Not like _that_!" Kai laughed, _well, maybe a little like that…_

"Well, Kai," Asami started, "You need to acknowledge that Jinora is a _master_. She needs to keep herself in top condition, physically, mentally and spiritually. Regardless of where she is, or who she is with…"

"Just think," Opal said, "We will be like that when we are masters."

Kai looked down at his, now full, drink, "I guess so… But she could still have fun, I bet we would." He brought the cup up to his mouth and tried again. Korra was right, the drink was tenfold easier the second time around, though it still terribly burned on the way down, _if this diluted… How can they be drinking the full-strength stuff?_

…

" _Here's to Bolin! Please don't spew! He's a piss-pot, yes it's true! He's a master, so they said! He tried to beat Korra, but got his ass kicked instead! He went, down, down, down!_ "

As the word ' _down'_ was yelled, Bolin would swallow a mouthful of the liquid, his eyes were watering from the burn, as everyone cheered. He finished the bottle and slammed it down on the bar, raising his hands to receive an applause.

The drinking song, which Bumi had edited from his days in the military, had become the anthem to the people gathered around the bar. Bolin had challenged Korra to an arm-wrestle, loser finishes the bottle of Fire-Shot liquid. Despite her fluctuating emotional state, her physical strength was peaking to her, and she was desperate to prove herself, though she didn't need to. They were all ' _well and truly fucked_ ', the words used by the quiet and seemingly innocent Opal. A quote that evoked ten minutes of laughter from the surprised friends that surrounded her, even her auntie laughed.

Kai tried to sit straight, his vision was slightly doubled, the diluted alcohol still having a great effect on his younger body. He found every word that left anyone's mouth hilarious and he was terrified to jump down from the chair, at risk he may fall flat on his face. He sang merrily with Bumi and the others as Korra beat everyone in arm-wrestling, those who were wise enough not to challenge cheered. Some part of Kai's brain told him not to say anything, especially not to Bumi. Not to ask the question he knew the adults who surrounded him would get a kick out of answering.

He knew he shouldn't.

But he wanted the advice, and then he couldn't stop the words from slipping out.

"Bumi, how do you know when you are in love?" Kai asked softly, grasping his almost empty cup in his hands.

He was expecting a loud, vulgar comment, or a joke, but instead, Bumi smiled. "You can't stop thinkin' about her! She is always on your mind. In your heart…" Kai tilted his head on an angle, surprised.

"You just want her to know that she is perfect, even when she thinks that she is pushing you away. You are just looking for a way to prove how you feel!" Kai was listening intently, as was everyone else. He took a deep sip from his cup, his eyes settled on the body of Lin, sitting at the bar across from them. His cheeky smile returned and his tone lightened partly to match. Lin cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering while he was looking at her and talking. "You just want to tell her… Show her, that if you had one wish! It would be to get under the layer of metal armour she coats herself in, to keep the world out..."

Kai rolled his eyes and smiled widely, _I don't think this applies to me anymore._ Bumi continued, "And make it crystal clear, that she is everything that is right in the world. _Your world_." There was a moment of silence, "I mean, come on! Her skin, her stare… And those legs!" Lin pursed her lips into a tight, indifferent smile, "Mmmm. _Mmm_!"

Secretly she was flattered, everyone was waiting for her reaction. She looked down at the glass in her hand and the bottle next to her arm, she downed the shot and lifted the bottle to her lips, chugging the final two gulps. She stood and straightened her tank top, she looked across at Bumi, lowering her eyebrows into a scowl, ignoring everyone else, who were still awaiting her response.

She grabbed a full bottle and turned and walked from the bar, swinging the bottle around in her fingers, and heading up to her room. Everyone in the bar watched until she was gone, suddenly Bumi jumped to his feet, "I… _I_ think I might call it a night!" he walked quickly out the same direction.

A minute passed before someone spoke, the adults chuckled, Kai didn't catch-on to why at first, then he laughed. "Did _that_ answer your question?" Mako smiled widely, standing up and walking across to take Bumi's seat.

"Ha, kind of." Kai laughed, finishing his cup, he grimaced slightly and smiled widely. It was then a voice tore through the skulls of everyone in the room.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON _HERE_?!" a voice thundered, he looked around at the faces of everyone, frightened by the sudden noise. "WHY DOES KAI HAVE A _DRINK_ IN HIS HAND?! That better not be alcohol or I swear to the spirits-"

" _Tenzin_!" Everyone said in unison, jumping to their feet. Kai miscalculated the distance to the floor and fell flat on his face, as he assumed he would. This caused everyone to start snickering, Bolin gripped the counter for support and Mako was doubled over. Opal and Asami had their hands over their mouths, while Korra was still trying to stand to attention, almost crying with laughter. Kai had a goofy smile on his face as he stood up and moved next to Korra, raising his hand to salute Tenzin, Korra copied, everyone laughed.

"Dad? What is wrong?" Jinora said, rushing into the room, having just returned from training alone. Kai looked at her and blushed, he couldn't believe how pretty she looked, her tattoos standing out beautifully against her smooth, barely-tanned skin. Kai felt himself blush harder when she took in his intoxicated state.

"Who decided it was okay to give someone, under the age of approval, alcohol?!" Tenzin yelled again, pointing at Kai. Everyone looked between themselves, still giggling, not wanting to turn Bumi in. This only cemented Tenzin's suspicions on who it was, "Where is Bumi?!"

"With _L-_ ", Bolin was about to say, Korra threw a small rock at him as Mako threw a cup, both hit him at the same time. "Er, I _meeeeeaaaaaannnnn_ … Not sure!"

Tenzin let his eyes slide down to Kai, barely standing upright, "Jinora! Take responsibility for your student, and take him to bed, _now_!"

" _Oooooooh!_ " Bolin and Mako chorused, Tenzin's furious scowl silenced them before they could continue. _I will have words with those two about their behaviour tomorrow… Especially Mako…_ Tenzin had never known Mako to be irresponsible _or_ inappropriate. While Tenzin's scowl silenced the brothers', it didn't stop Kai from laughing as Jinora pushed forward and grabbed him by the ear.

…

"Ow. Ow. _Ow_ …" Kai grumbled, as Jinora lead him up the winding stairs to his room.

"You've embarrassed yourself tonight, Kai." Jinora said, trying to be stern.

" _You've embarrassed_ yourself _tonight, Jinora_." Kai replied with slight mocking, trying to be funny.

"And drinking alcohol?! You know the rules!" Jinora ignored him, grumbling at the young man trailing behind her.

"You _know the rules._ " he smiled, suddenly she released his ear and pushed him against the wall outside his room, his head hit the stone wall and his eyes were wide with shock.

"This isn't funny Kai!" she almost yelled, her forearm was pushed across his chest, keeping him there, her scowl was violent, teeth clenched in a fuming grimace, "You are sixteen years old and _drinking_?! You aren't doing a great job of winning over my parents!"

"W-why am I winning over your parents?" Kai asked, his head was spinning from the alcohol, he wished it wasn't, he wanted to remember being this close to her, not having it marred by blurriness. "And I _don't_ know how old I am… Sixteen is just the age I give to people now." The last comment was off-handedly said, he could see the look on Jinora's face, but somehow knew it wasn't from his latter remark.

She looked surprised for a second, like something had slipped out that shouldn't have, or that she had just been offended, Kai couldn't tell. She blushed, "N-no, reas- _nothing_ … Just go to bed, Kai!" she took a step back and pointed at his door, Kai sighed and slumped his shoulders, walking into his room.

As he was shutting his door, he glanced at Jinora, still standing in the empty hall. She had tears of embarrassment in her eyes and wiped her hands across them, stopping them, she turned and walked towards her room. Kai turned and rested his back against the door, letting himself slide down to the cold, stone, flooring. He wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head against his door. _What have I done? I am an idiot._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**The drinking song edited for Bumi is a classic Australian game, "True Blue Drinking Game", I recommend a look, it just radiates Aussie class.**


	2. Aftermath

**_2._ ** **_Aftermath_ **

_BAM-BAM-BAM!_

There was a thumping at the door that woke Kai with a start, like Asami had shocked him or someone had doused him in icy water, "Mmm-mho iz it?" Kai mumbled into his pillow, not bothering to turn his head, the pain was almost instant, _urrrgh… My head_.

"It is Tenzin," came an angry voice, "Get yourself out here now!"

Kai groaned and raised himself up with his arms, as if doing a push-up, his head was throbbing. Each time his heart would beat it would pulse through his skull. He opened his eyes slowly and looked down at his arms, his room was darker than he expected, he lifted his head to the window, the sun was not yet up. _What the… What kind of time is this?!_

"Kai! Move it!" Tenzin yelled again, the sound hurt.

"It isn't even sunrise! _Fuck_." Kai yelled back, _Uh-oh, should not have said that…_ Kai prided himself on not often being disrespectful or swearing at adults, despite being from the street, _who cares?! Why is he waking me this early?_

"Did I stutter, Kai?!" He yelled, Tenzin obviously hadn't heard the swearing, or he would have knocked the door down. "Get out here _now_!"

" _Gaaah_!" Kai yelled, airbending out around him, the blast threw his blanket across the room and knocked everything from his shelf. He was only wearing his pants when he tore the door open, seeing a furious Tenzin. "What did I do _now_?!" he yelled up at the looming figure, almost forgetting every rule about respecting his elders in that moment.

"You and the others will learn the hard way, what happens when you break the rules!" Tenzin growled, walking down the hall and approaching another door.

" _Others_?"

_BAM-BAM-BAM!_

…

"HOW DO THOSE DRINKS _TASTE_ NOW?!" Tenzin yelled, pacing in front of Kai, Korra, Bolin, Mako, Opal and Asami. Bumi had somehow alluded him, and he knew the consequences of disturbing Lin's sleep from past experiences, anyhow, he had no _real_ evidence they were even present when Kai was given alcohol, _but I assumed Bumi was_ , he thought angrily.

All of them had their legs bent at the knees, straining, while they tried to hold the weight of the earth Suyin was placing upon their back. She was distributing it depending on the strength of each person, knowing that Kai, Opal and Asami, may not be as trained in strength as Korra, Mako and Bolin. _At least,_ _not yet_ , she smiled internally, remembering this is how her mother had trained her and a few other of their friends in strength, even Tenzin when they were young.

Jinora stood a few steps behind her father and Suyin, watching Kai. Something inside her felt hurt, she was certain that she had adequately expressed her feelings toward Kai, despite their lack of contact, and she knew she stated where she hoped their relationship was heading. She had thought that she had received confirmation of this, _perhaps he got tired of waiting.._. This angered her greatly, she scowled.

She wanted him to hurt, to have him be pushed to his limits. _He thinks meditating is boring? Training is repetitive? Just he wait._

 _This is not how a master should think!_ She yelled at herself, the tug-o-war game of thoughts in her mind had her second guessing her intentions for Kai. Her arms crossed tightly over her chest, the sun was finally starting to make an appearance behind her. _Maybe a master shouldn't think like this… But a young, heartbroken woman? Yes._ She raised an eyebrow condescendingly as Kai briefly made eye-contact with her.

"I am very disappointed in _all_ of you." Suyin said, eyes settling briefly on Opal, she was pacing in the opposite direction to Tenzin, walking past each other, trying to keep the smiles of their faces. "This is what my mother would do to me and Lin when we drank _too_ much…"

Suyin had arrived to visit Opal briefly, along with most of her children, having not seen her in almost two months. She was less than impressed to have to pull her, hungover, from her room. Finding it was Bolin who answered her door didn't help her annoyance, she knew they were good for each other, _but sharing a room shouldn't be taken lightly._ _I will have to have a talk with her later…_ Suyin pursed her lips and paced again, raising her fingers and adding a stone to each person's load.

"As would my father." Tenzin smiled, remembering the nights that all of the children of the original Team Avatar would be caught and punished by angry parents. It sounded strange, but they all treasured those memories. "Of course… We never _vandalized_ our place of residence, _or_ the place of someone else's!"

The vandalism Tenzin was referring to, was simple a bunch of inappropriate pictures and words written on the outside of his and Pema's bed chamber. They were easily washed off, but Tenzin knew that punishment was in order. Though everyone knew the real reason he was angry.

"Do you regret handing drinks down to a youngster now?" Tenzin said loudly. Meelo, Ikki and three other children that had joined the Air Nomads in the last several months had been placing bets on who would break first, and they knew it would end soon.

"They didn't give them to me!" Kai yelled to the ground, the stones were digging into Kai's back, he knew the skin was broken, but it wasn't his own wellbeing he was concerned for. Bolin looked like he was going to pass out, Suyin was keeping an eye on him and Korra, to ensure that he would use bending to lighten their load, or others'.

What they wore when they answered Tenzin's knocking was what they wore now. Mako and Bolin were both clever enough to pull on tank-tops of their own before opening their doors, Korra, Asami and Opal thanked the spirits that they had all decided to wear old tops and long pants to sleep, not that Tenzin or Suyin would have made them come out in sleeping gowns. "I stole them!" Kai grunted through his teeth.

"You _what_?" Tenzin said, walking forward and standing before Kai. Meelo raised his fist victoriously as Ikki and the others reluctantly handed him a silver piece each, he blew them each a kiss.

" _Stole_ … Them." he managed to grunt again.

"Suyin?" Tenzin turned and looked towards the metalbender, she had disappointed scowl.

"He is lying." She said, feeling his pulse through the earth, she held her hands out parallel to the ground and begin to clench her fists. The weights got heavier, everyone grunted with the added effort, Kai looked across, everyone looked terrible, sweat dripped down their faces, dirt covered their skin. He knew, as much pain that the alcohol was causing him, they were experiencing a hangover much worse than his.

He couldn't fathom how they were even operating, "It. Was. My. Choice to… _Continue_!" he almost yelled, his legs were starting to give way, sweat was dripping off him, Tenzin raised an eyebrow.

"Su?"

"He is telling the truth." She said, " _Mostly_.", Tenzin stood up straight and nodded in Suyin's direction. She opened her hands and the stone weighs fell from the shoulders of everyone, Bolin dropped to his knees and vomited almost immediately, Mako stood straight and groaned. Korra was supporting herself on her knees, Asami was tying her hair up into a messy bun, trying to breathe properly. Opal was on her hands and knees, coughing and groaning.

"This wasn't meant as torture." Tenzin said softly to the exhausted people before him, "It is a _lesson_. It just happened to be on a morning that you are all _hung-over_." Tenzin said, fighting a smile, "You are all welcome to return to bed now."

It was now Jinora finally spoke up, "Except you, Kai."

Kai finally managed to stand up straight, his hair was dripping and his headache was radiating throughout his entire body. "Why am I staying behind?" he said heatedly.

"You missed training yesterday."

…

"Gee, airbending-school is looking more and more like a party, eh, Wei?" Wing smiled, receiving a high-five from his twin brother as he was walking back from the window, a bowl of fruit in his hand, he handed one to Wei and they smiled widely at the exhausted adolescents.

"It isn't a _school_." Opal said to her brother, sitting down on the floor and holding an ice brick Korra had made to her temple. Huan nodded slightly in agreement with Opal, Bolin stood in the doorway, Wei threw a fruit to him, he caught it and offered it to Mako, who refused.

"The Air Nomad culture is about _freedom_. School is an institutional _prison_ designed for the teaching of pupils under the direction of teachers that leaves little to the _creative_ aspects of which the individual can possibly achieve if left to grow and flourish in their _own_ environment." Huan grumbled, pursing his lips and rolling his eyes at his younger brothers, he had spoken quickly and without taking a single breath. Everyone looked at him, his twin brothers and Bolin had their fruits suspended centimetres from their mouths, all with blank expressions. "Well it _is_ …" Huan said, crossing his arms.

"You have a lot of anger, don't you?" Bolin asked, his eyebrow raised. He sat on the lounge behind Opal, she leant her head back and rested it on his knee. Huan ignored the person he viewed as nothing more than an oaf, though, at the same time wished to employ some of his lavabending abilities into his works, so he played nice.

"What made you guys make the trek to the Eastern Temple?" Mako asked, passing a cup of water to Opal and Bolin as he took a seat beside them.

"Father was heaps busy, especially with Junior still, y'know, _recovering_. Mum said 'free trip', and we were like, ' _yew_!'." Wing shrugged, taking a large bite from a fruit, "Where is Korra? And Asumi?" he suddenly asked, looking around.

"As- _a_ -mi." Wei corrected, juices from his own fruit spilling from his mouth.

"I know her name!" he growled.

"Korra and Asami are preparing some lunch, apparently Asami knows all the best hangover foods." Mako smiled excitedly.

"Thank the spirits." Bolin mumbled, rubbing his temples.

…

" _Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah_!" Kai yelled, he was told to create a tornado that would rip on of the medium sized boulders from the ground.

"Come on, Kai! You can do it!" Ikki yelled, she was beginning to feel sorry for Kai, almost.

"And if you can't, don't bother returning to the temple! You lily-livered-chicken-pig-fuzz-bucket!" Meelo yelled. As that reached Kai's ears, he dropped his arms to his side, leaving his boulder still firmly rooted in the ground. Jinora stood back, it wasn't until she saw him bend over, resting his hands on his knees, that she saw the traces of blood on his back from under the bandages.

Tenzin and Suyin had felt almost repentant after seeing that the stony weights had harmed Kai, he had brushed off any sympathy and stomped after Jinora, promising to get healed later. He only allowed Asami to quickly wrap a bandage around them.

"Why are you acting like this?!" Kai suddenly said, standing, cringing lightly from the pain on his back.

"You need to learn that you can't just insult airbending, break rules and think that a _smile_ will get you out of it." She said, she managed to sound stern, but after seeing the blood, she realized how hard she had pushed him and felt terrible. He didn't look convinced, Jinora nervously traced her eyes over his body, he had bandages around his torso and was covered in dirt. He had a sections where sweat and dust had made mud, his eyes contrasted with the condition of his skin. She swallowed nervously, he was incredibly attractive, this made her a tad more annoyed.

"Pfft, that isn't the reason!" Kai said loudly, he walked towards her, "You two, give us some privacy or something." He said to Ikki and Meelo, they looked at each other and then at Jinora, she nodded.

"Go back to the Temple, guys…" Jinora said. They opened their staffs and flew back towards the temple, it wasn't until they were mere specks that Kai spoke again.

"You knew that I found meditating a drag. Korra and I always complain about it." He walked closer to her, she stood strong, " _This_ ," he gestured around himself, "is about something else."

She had a scowl on her face by the end of Kai's sentence, she had never fought with Kai, and never really wanted to, until now. "You are right, Kai!" she yelled, "I am furious at you! Airbending has nothing to do with it! You think I can't handle you being a baby about how I am in regards to my culture? How you should be? I have had Ikki and Meelo teasing me for years about my commitment! I have learnt to keep people and their opinions out!"

"Then why are you mad, if you are ' _so tough_ '?!" Kai said, his scowl matched hers, he wouldn't let her make him feel guilty again, especially after the other night.

_Oh._

That was when it hit Kai, _last night, of course._ Jinora was in the middle of a sentenced when Kai interrupted her, "Is this because I didn't say what you wanted me to last night?" he said the words softly, not wanting the whole mountainside to hear _this_.

Jinora had stopped talking, her scowl had disappeared and blush lit up her cheeks. She opened her mouth slowly and sighed, she didn't speak for a moment, Kai saw tears welling up in her eyes, "I-I just wasn't expecting you to be _that_ ignorant about my feelings for you, about us," She mumbled, the words sounded childish when they left her mouth, she wished she could have said them with more sophistication. "And what feelings I _thought_ you had for me. If you still want me, at all." She tried to sound fierce with her final statement, "Now, I am not even sure that I want you!" She finished.

She turned away and kept her eyes on the temple, she felt the tears about to give way and let them roll down her cheeks. It didn't go amiss between Kai and Jinora that they had never gotten a chance to kiss, or touch or anything else that people their age usually do with each other. It seemed that every time they got a chance, something would happen, and something always _did_ happened. They were once set on making sure that they would have plenty of alone time, to move at whatever pace they wanted, to make sure their first kiss is everything they believed the other deserved. But as the months rolled past, the years, they got more and more anxious to be alone, until it seemed they just gave up.

Kai felt terrible, it wasn't the hangover, or his back. He wanted to say something to her, comfort her, _I do have feelings for you, I have for five years now! Please, listen to me, I want you more than anything._ He realized that he saying this to himself, she wasn't hearing any of it _._ He didn't know what to do, what to say that would fix her hurt feelings. He felt like this was all still far beyond his years, like they were too young to have any kind of serious romantic feelings. He wished he had someone who had taught him how to express feelings, how to love. _I can't stop thinking about you! You are always on my mind... In my heart_. He thought the words, know that he had heard them before.

It was then, a tiny voice in his head spoke to him, it came in the voice of Bumi, his words from the previous night _. You just want her to know that she is perfect, even when she thinks that she is pushing you away._

He felt his cheeks glow as he softly bit his lip, _you are just looking for a way to prove how you feel!_ Kai realised that, in an unintentional way, Bumi _was_ talking about his situation. Kai felt like he knew what to do, he squared his shoulders and stood tall, letting Bumi's speech roll through his mind. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him, she momentarily made eye-contact out of surprise, but looked away when she took in his serious scowl. _You just want to tell her…_

He took a step closer ensuring that their toes were flush against the others, _show her…_

He placed her hand under her chin and lifted it, leaving it caressing her cheek, he stared into her large, abysmal, chocolate eyes still full with tears of hurt, tears of disappointment. _That if you had one wish!_

He moved his second hand to the top of her shoulder, holding her tightly, not dropping her gaze. _It would be to get under the layer of metal armour she coats herself in…_

She breathed in quickly, breath catching in her throat. _To keep the world out_.

He moved his head in closer to her, leaning in slowly. He saw her eyelids flutter and close, another tear slipped out, rolling down her glowing cheeks and merging with the dust on his thumb. It left the tiniest mark of mud as he wiped the tear away, she parted her lips ever so slightly. _And make it crystal clear…_

His eyes were drawn to the tiny mark, a dark mark on something so pure, he didn't think of the irony. _That she is everything that is right in the world._

He let his eyes close, their hearts pounding together, they were equals in this moment.

_Your world._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	3. Grapes

**_3._ ** **_Grapes_ **

She had become accustomed to the slight burning of the blush across her cheeks, she hoped that they weren't as pink and flushed as they felt. She often found herself gnawing on her lower lip, she got butterflies in her stomach and felt them spread to her throat and chest. She felt as though her heart would be permanently beating at a mile-a-minute, she didn't mind.

Jinora kept the book held high in front of her face, trying to focus on the delicate calligraphy that told the story of the Oma and Shu. Trying to hide that her lips were still slightly swollen, she didn't want anyone to see, or anyone to ask. She wanted to keep it private, _their_ little secret.

She heard Korra enter the room, knowing that Kai would be with her. Tenzin had sternly ordered Kai to get healed before dinner, to avoid infection and possible scaring, depending on the wounds. Jinora peaked over her book and looked at Kai, he was already looking at her, blush stained his cheeks as he returned her smile.

His lips were also slightly swollen.

Dinner was finally served after Korra and Kai settled down with everyone, there were many different meals, all vegetarian, much to the Beifong brothers' and Bolin's dismay. Wei, Wing and Bolin were challenged to an eating competition by Meelo and Ikki, though a stern look from Tenzin, Pema and Suyin made they postpone it until dessert. Opal sat with Korra and Asami, whispering about the previous night she had spent with Bolin, the girls ' _aww_ 'd and ' _ooh_ 'd in the appropriate places, while trying to keep quiet, not wanting the whole table to know.

Bumi and Lin sauntered into the dining hall almost ten minutes after the course was served, everyone paused and looked up as they entered, Tenzin cleared his throat softly as they sat, only getting a few people's attention. "Where were you two today?"

"Hungover," Bumi grumbled, "If you must know, Master _Nosey_." He smiled lightly, letting Tenzin know that he was not being overly rude, more, light-heartedly teasing than insulting his younger brother.

"You slept all day?" Suyin asked, looking across at Lin, "You have never done that."

"I seem to have picked up your bad habits from when we were young." Lin grumbled, stuffing a great amount of food into her mouth, chewing quickly, she hadn't realized how hungry she was.

"Were you two sleeping together?" Pema asked innocently. The whole table looked at Pema, Lin and Bumi glanced quickly at each other, Tenzin almost choked on his chopsticks and Suyin snorted. " _Oh_! I only asked because you both walked in together. I assumed you must have been sleeping in the same room or nearby." She smiled, realizing how it must have sounded and hoping she hadn't offended anyone.

"No. I would have continued sleeping," Lin started, "If Bumi hadn't stampeded directly past my room…" she added with a grumble. Suyin suddenly raised an eyebrow and smiled sneakily, Lin made eye-contact with her as she mouthed, ' _Liar'_. Forgetting that there was someone else who can tell when somebody is lying, Lin resisted the urge to poke her tongue out.

"What can I say?" Bumi chuckled, "I heard the clinking of plates. I was starving, staying in bed all day can be gruelling, I think I pulled a muscl _-ow_!" he suddenly yelled, looking at Lin with a pained, yet amused smile.

"Well, I suppose you will have to make up for the punishment you missed…" Tenzin said, placing half a dumpling in his mouth and chewing slowly.

"What punishment is that?" Bumi asked, swallowing a mouthful of food.

"Jinora will give _you_ one tomorrow, she seemed to have worked Kai into an apology." Tenzin smiled at the memory of Kai approaching him, with repentance for being rude and breaking the rules. It made Tenzin like him a tad more. Bumi and Lin glanced across to Jinora, she had let her guard down and was eating. Bumi suddenly started laughing, he glanced across at Kai and started laughing harder, Lin fought to keep a smile off her face. "W- _what is funny, Bumi_?" Tenzin asked suddenly, annoyed that he thought punishment was humorous.

"I can tell how hard Jinora must have _pushed_ him, judging by how swollen their lip-" there was a loud _smack_ , as Kai's bowl of soup smashed into Bumi's face. The bowl slid down the surprised man's face and landed in his lap, food covering his face and chest. Everyone looked at Kai, his hands were stretched out in front of him, he had an expression that was both apologetic and terrified.

"I... _I_ -er… I _sneezed_ … Bless me." Kai said hopelessly, trying to sound convincing, though it just came across as nervous. "I guess I wasn't quick enough to catch my plate… _Heh. Heh_ … I am going to go meditate!" Kai stood quickly and walked from the dining room, Jinora wiped her face and also stood.

"I… Me too." She ran after Kai. She ran out into the grand hallway and he caught her wrist, knowing she would follow, they ran together, trying not to laugh too loudly.

…

"I may just be worrying, Pema." Tenzin said, rocking Rohan, they had to leave during dinner to put him in bed. For a four year old, he was still quite the sleeper, especially with a full stomach, "I mean, I trust Jinora with the world. With an entire Nation even! But Kai… Less so."

"She is almost sixteen, Tenzin." Pema smiled, "If I remember the story correctly, your father and mother knew that they were meant to be together when they were their age, younger even! I also remember your uncle Sokka telling me how he walked out and saw them kissing sometime after Lord Zuko's coronation!" She giggled the last part.

"These are different times!" he said loudly. "And! He also mentioned that it gave him a terrible case of the ' _oogies'_!"

"Shhhh!" Pema smiled, pointing at Rohan, finally dozing-off in Tenzin's arms. Tenzin smiled softly and placed him into the cradle, tucking him in and placing a small, cuddly toy next to him, "If you are really that worried," Pema whispered, as they walked towards the door, "Perhaps set a boundary. Just a small one, like…" she thought for a moment, hand resting under her chin.

"No kissing or hand holding until she gets married?" Tenzin suggested, taking Pema's hand in his and walking down the stairs towards the dining hall.

Pema laughed, "Perhaps, until she turns eighteen, no public displays of affection, and no sleeping in each other's chambers?" _not that it will stop them…_ She thought with a smile, "Perhaps to set an example to others. But Tenzin, we know our daughter, she is responsible."

"Eighteen?! I was thinking twenty-one… But, perhaps, we should give her a… _Talk_. Just in case." Tenzin said.

" _Dad_! Mum! Dad! _Mum_!" Meelo chanted as he ran up to his parents, "The new chef is about to bring out dessert and Ikki bet me two silver pieces that I can't swallow whatever it is whole… Whilst I _won_ two pieces earlier, I lost them to Bolin, _that cheater_ , sooooooo… Can I borrow two silver pieces, just in case?" There was a large bowl of coins that Katara had given the children from her years of travelling with Aang and her friends, the children used this for bets so they did not actually financially disadvantage themselves, however Meelo had almost lost all of his to his other siblings.

"Go find Jinora and Kai for dessert…" Tenzin said, "Then _maybe_."

"Just be thankful at least _one_ of our children is classified as responsible…" Pema smiled as Meelo raced to find his sister. "I would be willing to wager that the gambling comes from uncle Sokka…"

Tenzin smiled at the irony, "I would see that bet, and raise you Bumi."

…

They sat out on the balcony, looking out over the landscape as the sun was setting slowly behind the mountains, "What was it like?" Jinora asked with a smile, "Being intoxicated?" she had a massive bunch of grapes in her hand, they were a delicious burgundy in colour and were almost bursting. Kai sat next to her, his own bunch of grapes in his hands, his were a soft green, he popped a few into his mouth and began chewing as he spoke.

"It was strange. Like my head was almost separate from the rest of me." He smiled, "Well, until I woke up…" he shrugged. He reclined back, using one arm to support his torso, while the other held the stalk high above his head as sucked a couple of grapes into his mouth with airbending, "What is it like being a master?"

He had asked this question of Jinora before, she usually assumed because he was excited to become one himself, eventually. But now, she wasn't sure why he asked. "It is great." Jinora's usual answer, "It is hard work though." Kai glanced over at her, drinking deeply from a cup of homemade plum-juice. "Kai, why do you always ask me that?"

"It is incredible that you are a master. I guess I hope one day, you will say 'it is easy- _peasy'_." Kai mumbled, sucking more grapes into a tiny wind-vortex and chewing them slowly.

"Why do you hope that?" she asked again, placing a grape between her teeth. He compared the colour of the grape between her lips to the colour of her eyes, almost a match, _how beautiful._

He bit his lower lip gently, lowering the grapes from above his head so they rested in his lap, his fingers fiddled with the loose berries, he spoke softly, "Because, I will never even compare to you, perhaps, if it is easy for _you_ … It might _just_ be doable for _me_." He smiled sincerely.

She watched him rolling the grapes in his fingers, lifting on and slowly placing it in his mouth as his eyes met hers. She compared the colour of the grapes to the colour of his iris', the colour was perfect, she smiled slowly, "I don't believe it will or has ever been easy, for anyone, even Grandpa Aang. But, I do believe in you. I know you will make a great master someday, and I will be right there with you." Jinora whispered, blush heating her cheeks.

They sat there for a moment, looking at each other. They both picked a new grape and held it to their mouths, their thoughts were in sync, both travelling back to earlier in the day. Jinora bit her lip, lowering the grape, Kai's eyes flickered to the action, his cheeks also reddened. _Ask him… Just do it…_ Jinora's thoughts were cooing at her, _what is the worst thing that can happen?_ "K-Kai. I wanted to ask you, if… _Um_ …" she was blushing and had broken eye-contact.

"Y-yeah?" he whispered, she was making him nervous, he dropped his hand.

"Could we, um, k-kiss… Again?" she thought her face was on fire, she had butterflies in her stomach and finally glanced up at him. He straightened himself up and moved closer to her, he realized that he didn't really know how to behave. Earlier, he had acted to ensure that he didn't lose her, now, he was acting solely on memory. Her eyes followed his movements, she was worried about his hesitation, like she might be pressuring him. "O-only if you want too."

"Well, I kind of… _Forced_ you earlier." He mumbled, smiling nervously and scratching the back of his neck. "I think I owe you a _proper_ kiss." He leant in towards her, slowly, in case she wanted to change her mind. Her breathing was getting quicker, as was his, they closed their eyes.

When Kai's lips made contact with Jinora's skin, she giggled.

He opened his eyes, he suddenly realized that he had missed her mouth and had his lips pushing against the indentation between her chin and lower lip. He pulled back with a nervous laugh and blush travelling down his neck, as it had already consumed his face. As her giggles faded she smiled lightly, he leant back in, but didn't close his eyes until their lips met.

Her lips were soft and warm, the sweet, stickiness of the grapes was present within both their mouths, and coating their lips. They were both nervous that the presence of the juice would deter the other, Kai was very cautious as he slowly parted her lips. He could taste the sweet essence of the fruit and knew she could too, she sighed softly and followed his lead, the sound caused Kai's body to almost physically jolt. He couldn't remember her sighing earlier, and if she had, he hadn't heard her. Their lips moved slowly, gently, they didn't want to break the moment but doing something wrong. Kai pulled back gently, and tilted his head the other way, Jinora was worried he was stopping, she internally squealed with delight when his lips reconnected with hers.

After a moment he pulled back slowly, wanting to see if everything was okay, when there was a shadow in the corner of his eye, he turned his head and his heart hit the bottom of his stomach.

Jinora noticed his expression and turned around properly, _uh-oh._

Meelo stood in the doorway with Poki on one shoulder and Pabu on the other, his mouth was hanging open and his eyes wide. He took a step backwards, watching both Kai and Jinora, then another, " _Get."_ Jinora whispered as softly as she could, _"Ready._ "

Meelo saw her whispering and turned and bolted, Poki and Pabu, barely hanging on to his shirt as he air-scootered down the flight of stairs in the one isolated turret in the whole Air Temple. He knew that if he wasn't quick, he would be caught, _and possibly tortured…_ Meelo thought. " _DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!_ " Meelo looked quickly back over his shoulder, he couldn't see Kai or Jinora, there was suddenly an alarmed squeak as both Pabu and Poki saw Jinora's spiritual projection standing with her arms crossed in the middle of the staircase. Meelo panicked and swerved running into the wall, Kai was there in a second, having been trying to catch up, he grabbed Meelo and held him.

"Unhand me, you despicable creatures of love! I wish not to have your germs of kissing on me!"

The projection disappeared and Jinora was there in an instant, she rolled her eyes at her younger brother, "Stop being dramatic."

"Make me!" Meelo pouted, thrashing his legs, "You are going to be in so much trouble when Dad finds out!" he smiled as evilly as he could manage.

Kai smirked, "Tenzin won't find out anything…"

"You can't silence me!" Meelo said loudly, he drew in a deep breath, "DAAAAAAAA-"

Jinora's hand was clamped over his mouth, "As you were saying, Kai?" she smiled.

"If you tell Tenzin, that you saw _anything_ …" Kai looked up at Jinora, "We will both be forced, to give you…" he puckered his lips, "A. Big. Sloppy. _Kiss_." Jinora smiled cunningly, under her hand, Meelo was yelling for help. "So, if you don't want big, disgusting kisses from Jinora and myself…" He lifted his index finger to his lips, "Shhh, okay Meelo?" Under Jinora's hand, Meelo nodded.

They slowly pulled their hand back, Meelo cleared his throat, "Dessert is downstairs, we are waiting just for you two..." He said slowly, turning and walking leisurely down the stairs and into the hall, Jinora and Kai followed him, watching his behaviour, prepared to pounce in a moment's notice.

…

"Jinora, may we have a word?" Tenzin asked her softly, gesturing into his office as a few people walked from the hall.

" _We_?" Pema laughed, "Uh-uh, you are the one who came to the decision."

"You helped…" Tenzin grumbled, Jinora looked between her parents and raised an eyebrow. Dessert had been slightly tense when Tenzin had noticed Meelo being uncharacteristically silence as he sat at the table, slowly eating his cookies and cream, watching Jinora and Kai. Tenzin saw Kai and Jinora making kissy-faces at Meelo, and Meelo being physically repulsed by them. _I wonder why they are- oh dear…_ He hoped that he hadn't just accidentally stumbled upon them threatening Meelo to keep quiet, _I don't think so… They haven't had hardly any time alone together… I wonder what Bumi was going to say earlier…_ "Jinora, _I_ wanted to talk to you."

"Sure Dad. Is everything okay?" Jinora asked, noticing that Pema was sliding the paper doors closed, she had the tiniest of inkling, that she knew what this was about. _But how could Meelo have told? No… He wouldn't risk a_ _ **kiss**_ _…_

"Now, Jinora, your mother and I, we trust you. And love you…" Tenzin looked up at Pema, she nodded with encouragement, "I have called you in here for a quick chat… About boys…"

"What?" Jinora said, almost horrified.

"O-or girls! It is really up to you… I-" Tenzin cleared his throat and stood tall, "Jinora, we love you, and it is for this reason we have decided to set a few boundaries…"

" _What_?" she repeated in a higher, just as horrified voice.

"Now, we need to acknowledge that you are getting older, and while you might hear about some things… Especially if your uncle insists on getting people drunk… Especial-"

"Err, Dad?"

"Err, Tenzin?" Pema and Jinora said at the same time.

"I know that your mother recently gave you a brief talk about… Your, umm, well… _Lady things_ …" Tenzin hesitated, then cleared his throat, suddenly speaking sternly, "Jinora, I don't think you and Kai should be spending too much time together."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	4. Aim

**_4._ ** **_Aim_ **

Jinora slammed the door behind her, and threw her book across the room, it knocked a small ornament from her shelf and she cussed it. _"You are too young to be getting into anything too serious of a romantic nature right now. And don't try using your grandparents as an example of young love that actually worked!"_ Jinora scowled as she stomped towards her bed, she sat on the side, her thoughts circling, _"You need to understand that sometimes, boy's intentions are different to what you may think…"_ She couldn't believe what her father was saying, of course, she still had limited knowledge on… _"Making sure that you two keep distance between yourselves, will set an example for your siblings!"_ she wanted to know more about what her father was getting anxious about, _the better my counter argument, the more likely I will succeed in conveying my point!_

She stood abruptly and stomped towards her door, she pulled an oil-lamp from the wall outside her room and walked towards the library, she was going to find out what all the fuss was about when it came to young people and banned romances.

…

"Explain to me," the voice croaked nervously, he approached a peaceful looking spirit, "How will it work?" The spirit looked almost bored, it flipped up one of its pointed ears, cocking one half its feathered mono-brow and sighing audibly.

"You shot it at whomever you wish to have control over, and you then have it. It is virtually undetectable." It sighed, "Not much to it." The spirit was the self-appointed essence of disloyalty, getting a kick out of making people and fellow spirits act against the ones the love and have trust in.

It called itself, Bú Yi, and it had perfected a technique during its time in the spirit world that allowed itself to take over another spirit's conscious. When the physical and spiritual worlds were united, they assumed that many years of practise would be needed to be able to use this ability on humans. Yet, it took them less than four years to redevelop and perfect their technique to work on humans.

"I heard that when a spirit and human combine," the elderly man held the tiny spot of green-yellow light in his hand, "It can result in death, and that is not what our master wants."

The spirit froze, turning towards the quivering old male, " _Our_ master?" they snarled, "I have _no_ master… I am choosing to share my ability with _your_ master simply for what he promised me. Yes, spirits living within humans _can_ cause them to die, but that is not always the case, is it? The Avatar still lives, and Raava fused with Avatar Wan long ago, and again with Avatar Korra less than a decade ago. My technique is not permanent, but will sustain long enough for the pre-discussed plan to go through. It is for that reason that the carrier of the tiny _bug_ ," it glanced at the spot of light, "will not give the welder one hundred percent control over the carrier, not like if I were the controller, but they will have the impossibly strong ability to persuade. Of course, that is why I suggest threats, or pain… Even nightmares… Anything that will get them to do as you wish. It will be impossible to fight against the persuasion, and impossibly strong willpower to overcome it, I doubt even the Avatar could. Now, is that enough information for you? Will you insist on continuing to question me? Undermine my commitment? Anything else?"

"What is my master's end of the agreement?" the man asked, taking a step towards the door.

"Privileged information, my pathetic acquaintance. Now, get out."

…

There were books piled high around her, she had the lamp at her side as she flicked through scrolls and scanned the contents pages of thick books. She had started with the ' _romance'_ section, hoping to find anything that would alarm a parent enough to set out ridiculous rules. She had been down in the library for almost an hour, her eyes were starting to flutter close, when she heard a noise. She looked up, there was only darkness beyond the reach of her lamp-light. She scanned more and more pages, looking for anything that may help her build an argument, her blinks were becoming sluggish. There was nothing she had found that she hadn't already known about, _was it kissing? Sex? Any kind of intimacy? What is he so worried about?_

It was when she saw a movement in the corner of her eye that she gasped, turning the light on them. Lin stood tall, an eyebrow cocked high as she took in the young master airbender before her, "What on earth are you doing down here alone, at this hour?"

"I-I was looking for… _Something_." Jinora said nervously. Lin pursed her lips and walked forward, squatting down besides Jinora, she reach forward and turned the cover of the book towards her, before lifting it closer, thinking she had misread it.

"In romance novels?" She asked, holding the book in her hand.

"Well, I…" Jinora was about to lie, but knew it was no good trying when it came to a Beifong, "My father has challenged me on a topic I have little information on…" she mumbled. "I wanted a well-structured counter argument." She finished, feeling embarrassed for being caught.

Lin raised her eyebrow again, "A counter argument won't do you much good. This is your father, he will stick by his decision until the end."

Jinora half smiled, "He said he'd never give me tattoos…"

"Touché." Lin said, her eyebrow still raised. "But I cannot imagine your parents being impressed with you reading romance novels, which are past your maturity _and_ past midnight."

She knew Lin was right, besides the ' _past maturity_ ' bit, Jinora sighed, "I just needed to learn more about it. Books are sometimes the only place I can turn." _I am very mature! I turn sixteen soon, that is older than a significant number of these characters..._

"Well, how about turning to them during the day? I wouldn't feel good about you staying down here, and I would like to go to bed." Lin said, not wanting to sound harsh, and hoping Jinora didn't receive it that way. Instead, the young girl nodded, scooping up her lamp and placing the other books back on the shelf, she rubbed her eyes and walked forward, secretly concealing a book under her robe. Lin waited until Jinora had walked past her before quickly placing the book in her hand under her own robe.

It wasn't until the pair was approaching the stairs when Jinora spoke, "Chief Beifong, do you know anything about love?" she yawned slightly, Lin almost choked.

"I don't." she said seriously, _I tried once, I don't think I will again._ "I am not the person to ask." _Perhaps about heartbreak._

Jinora felt awkward and dejected for asking, she decided to change the topic, they were almost at the top of the stairs, "Why are you tired? I thought you said you were in bed all day at dinner."

"Just because I was in bed, doesn't mean I was sleeping." Lin quickly said. Her eyes suddenly widened, she had forgotten she was talking to Jinora, concern tore through her at the thought of Jinora realizing what she had meant, _like it matters, the girl is almost sixteen.._. _But still..._

"I guess so." Jinora replied sleepily, not fully-understanding the response in the haze of exhaustion, and Lin was slightly relieved. Jinora walked to her door and pushed through it, "Goodnight, Chief Beifong."

"Goodnight, Master Jinora." She said, she continued walking to her room. Lin watched Jinora walk into her room, making sure she wasn't sneaking back down. Lin pushed the door to her visitor's room open, she knew that her room was finally empty. She walked across and placed her metal cables on her bedside table, removing her robe. She pulled the book out from inside the robe as she approached the bed, her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she read the title, " _The Metal Flame_ ".

…

"The world is heading in a new direction…" The man spoke softly, his voice still managing to carry through the crowded chamber, "In my own opinion, there was a reason the Air Nomads almost died out. Survival of the fittest." There were a few murmurs, some surprised, some in agreement, the voice continued, "I think it is time, I take no grievance in the fact that the Nomads are trying to… _Rebuild_. But, it is creating nothing more than an inconvenience for our projects. So far, we have only one successful mine, our second was cancelled because of Mater Tenzin's air nomadic claim over the lands that surround the Northern Air Temple. And the Avatar's influence over the world council to remove the lands from us, was an unfair abuse of her power. All we need, is someone on the inside… Someone with power, a master perhaps." The room was quiet, the old man stood, walking forward, in his hand he held a delicate charm, spinning it on a string. He approached a man, "You are thinking against my plan… May I enquire, why?"

The man gulped, _shit,_ he had known the master's ability to sense a person's mood and decipher a thought pattern, simply by looking at them, he had tried to stay hidden. "I-I, just cannot think of a way to convince an air nomad to, well, turn for us, m-master. Also, the land, we claimed it without asking… What makes you think they will ever return it?" The old man huffed a laugh, he let the pendent-like charm roll from his fingers and fall, catching the string as it swung like a pendulum before the frightened man's face, glowing a strange yellowy-green. To the master, the image was clear as day, a young woman, about sixteen years old, sleeping in her bed, sun peeping through her window. A book opened over her face, obviously she had fallen asleep reading, the candle by her bed burnt out. The spirit inside the locket projected the image to its new master, "They plans to rebuild the Northern Air Temple are scheduled for next year, if there is no Air Nation, there is no temple." The image swirled, "Everyone has their price." He smiled, the pendulum spun slowly revealing a young man, with messy brown hair and green eyes, smiling wickedly as he prepared a prank.

The man's smiled widened.

…

Kai was perched above a doorway, a huge clay jug of wine in his hands, waiting, patiently. He had a sly smile on his face while Meelo stood a few feet back, pretending to be playing with Poki, but really, watching for Bolin. It was when Meelo pretended to cough, that Kai stood, ready to bolt in a moment's notice, he heard Bolin laugh at something someone had said, Kai held the jug high above his head, he began to tip when, " _KAI_!"

Kai fumbled the jug out of shock as it slipped from his hands and landed over his own head, becoming slightly stuck, wine washed over his body, soaked his hair and face. The fright had also caused his to lose his footing, falling towards the ground, when _whoooosh_ , Tenzin's gust of air caught him, only letting him plonk from an approximate foot to the solid, stone ground. Kai let out an ' _oof_ ' that echoed around the clay jar, somehow firmly stuck on his head, Kai stood up and tried to remove the jug, grunting with effort, it was definitely stuck tight. "Hold on, little bro!" Bolin laughed, rushing over to Kai's aid, not yet grasping the prank was aimed at him, "I didn't know you liked pottery… To me, it is just a way of _kiln_ time!"

He had paused for a response from the people in the near vicinity. Opal and Korra looked between themselves and shrugged, Mako smacked his palm to his forehead. Meelo looked confused, "I don't get it!" he whined.

"A _Kiln_! What you bake pottery in! _Killin'_ … _Kiln_ … He has a _clay_ jar on his- _oh_ _forget_ _it_! No one appreciates the effort put in to keep you people entertained!" Bolin stood behind Kai and tapped his fist on the clay pot, having it fall into two equal halves. Kai already had his expression of guilt, and embarrassment ready as it stretched into a large, awkward smile.

"For someone who seemed so repentant a day ago, you are very quick to return to being a nuisance." Tenzin said with a heavy tone of disapproval, "Or were the words you spoke to me lies?"

"No, sir…" Kai mumbled, rubbing his elbow awkwardly and avoiding Tenzin's gaze, "We-" Meelo had a momentary expression of terror, when he suddenly made kissing faces, Kai knew that he won this round, _damn it… the threatened has become the threat…_ " _I…_ " Kai continued with emphasis, Meelo smiled, "Just thought it would be funny, getting Bolin and all..."

"You were aiming for me?! Oh! Well… No harm done, Tenzin!" Bolin smiled, slapping Kai's back, "Just a bit of bro- _v_ -bro pranking!" Tenzin's scowl intensified, he looked down at the ancient wine jug, now perfectly halved.

"Of course, they will make sure to avoid all airbender relics and anything breakable from now on!" Opal smiled, nudging Bolin slightly as he picked it up and sealed it back into one piece.

…

Jinora rolled over, the book fell from over her eyes to the floor, it made a loud slap sound that woke her with a start. She couldn't believe how high the sun was, peaking over the mountains that surrounded the temple, she leapt out of bed and rushed to grab some day clothes. _How much time have I wasted? What if I don't get enough meditation in today? I will have to skip breakfast._ She was rushing around frantically, almost running out of her room as she tried to pull the robe over her head, she tripped on something. She blasted a gust from her hand that caught her before she hit the ground, she half screamed in surprise at the fall. She pulled her head through the neck hole of the robe and looked around herself, trying to she was she fell over, _I swear, if Rohan and Meelo are pulling pranks… Huh. Grapes?_ Green and burgundy grapes were scattered all over the floor, a small bowl was upturned and a note was poking from the bottom. She creased her brow in confusion as she plucked the note from under the bowl, she barely managed to read the words, _"Grapes are my favourite food now."_ she felt her face heat up, as she brushed some hair behind her ear smiling as she checked the other side of the note, _"See you at training."_

_Huh? What trai-… Uh-oh._

…

"I have chosen you two for the purpose of your comparative youth," the master turned slowly and looked at the two younger men, they were in their late thirties, "The others are not as fast, or have equal eyesight to you both." They glanced at each other, smiling smugly, they know they are important. The old man placed the small spirit in the first man's hand, a slingshot into the second's man's. "It is important that you hit the master Jinora, she is the one we need."

…

Jinora wasn't as late as she thought she was, she was relieved that the only person who seemed to notice her tardiness was Kai. He was smiling widely as she tried to finish shoving a handful of grapes into her mouth, he sneakily winked at her as they made eye-contact, blush broke out across her cheeks like a wildfire. Bumi raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the blush and nudged Kai, knowing he was the source. "I-er, I am sorry everyone, I forgot breakfast." She smiled awkwardly, standing beside her father.

…

"We have one job…" the first man, Youi, mumbled. They were far away, trying to think of a way to approach. They had the girl in their sights, she was flipping and flying circles around a boy about her age, she was completely oblivious to how her life was about to change. "We need a clear shot… I think, as they are finishing their training for the day, the master always leaves last."

"Yes, but she isn't the only master there. The old man, he could cause a problem, if he sees his daughter being struck with the spirit." The second man was about to say something when, as if a sign, a person called the old master away. Leaving the young girl in plain sight, they waited, hoping he would stay away.

…

"Come on, _master._ " Kai smiled, slipping down from a high tree branch as Jinora chased him, "If _you_ can't catch me, oh _masterful_ one! No one will!" he laughed loudly as he dived from the tree, flitting across the ground, Jinora leapt for him, chasing him easily in her arms, knocking him to the ground and laughing. A shadow stood over them, Tenzin did not look impressed.

"Master Jinora, what was the point of this exercise?" Tenzin rumbled, the acolytes and other airbenders chuckled quietly, their hands over their mouths.

"Umm, speed?" Jinora said quickly, leaping to her feet, she didn't sound sure in her response.

"Err, agility?" Kai stood up, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "She caught me because I was slow…" He hoped his answer would stick, Tenzin pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing loudly. It was then an acolyte had finally reached the top of the mountain they were all practising on, perfect timing.

"Mas-ter Ten-zin…" he puffed loudly, holding his knees for support. "Rai-ko on rad-i-o." Another acolyte pushed forward from the group under the tree, he handed his friend a cup of cool water and patted his back while he drank thirstily. "He says-" he paused to drink more, "Important business." He sighed before collapsing onto his back, still holding the cup in his hand.

"Thank you, Min." Tenzin nodded, turning briefly to look again at Kai and Jinora, both standing with their hands behind their backs, smiling nervously, "I will be back for you two…"

They both sighed in relief as Tenzin pulled out his old glider and took to the skies, heading towards the temple. Kai nudged Jinora as she turned and addressed the students, "You have all done, um, really well! Perhaps on a windier day, we can have a go at flying with the implementation of more advanced evasive manoeuvres."

A few people raised an eyebrow, not catching the words she was using, Bumi looked around. "Wooh! Fancy flying tricks!" he cheered, everyone ' _ooooh_ 'ed and smiled. He had heard the phrase 'evasive manoeuvres' frequently in his military days. Jinora smiled at her uncle, mouthing the word 'thanks'. She bowed to everyone and watched as they returned a bow and left, only Kai stayed, waiting to have her alone.

"So! Slept in this morning?" he smiled, they he lazily strolling after the others, leaving a massive gap to ensure they were out of hearing range. "I was worried at breakfast, it was showing through the haze of my own tiredness." Kai wasn't a morning person, sometimes, people could spend a whole hour talking to him, and he wouldn't have caught a word. Opal jokes that he sleeps with his eyes opened, especially after an early morning flight that almost resulted in a grounded bison a few months ago.

"You were worried about me?" she smiled, pushing her hair behind her ear. She felt her cheeks redden, but didn't want to draw attention to the action by pulling her hair back across her face.

"You were always the first thing I saw in the morning that made me happy! It was for selfish reasons I was sorry you weren't about." He winked at her, she blushed a deeper red.

"So! Grapes?" she smiled, mimicking his tone from a few seconds ago.

"Yeah," he smiled, "Well, in the light of the sunset yesterday evening, the reddish-brownish-burgundy grapes matched your eyes… It was only this morning how crazy different I realised the colours were." He laughed the last part, "Still beautiful though! It is probably my favourite colour now, burgundy."

"The green grapes matched yours pretty well. Green has always been my favourite colour…" She smiled, "I-In the new book I am reading, they use colour comparisons all the time and _heaps_ of visual imagery…"

He couldn't control the smile that was spread across his face, she spoke for a while about her new book, about the characters and writing techniques. He had no clue what any of it meant, but listening to her speak about something that was obviously so important, it made him happy just being involved. When she finished speaking, he still had his smile planted firmly on his face, but now, it slowly turned cunning, "So, you still think your ' _speed'_ is greater than mine?" he smirked. They were still on the plateau of the mountain, about to begin the descent to the temple.

Jinora peered at him suspiciously, "Yes… Why-" He lunged for her, almost knocking her down, but something stuck him, he fell. She spun quickly while he lay on the ground, convulsing. Jinora stood frozen, she screamed out as he shook, "Kai? _Kai?!_ "

She didn't know if he was playing with her, he had a cut from where his cheekbone had hit the ground, his eyes were closed tightly, as if fighting off pain. Jinora tried to hold him down, to stop the shaking, she had tears of panic streaming down her cheeks by this point. She had never felt horror like this, she screamed for help.

It wasn't long until the people closest to them had run back, after hearing Jinora's screams. People surrounded Kai, some took off at a great speed towards the temple in seek a medics. The convulsing got worse, before it stopped altogether, he opened his eyes and everyone jumped back in fright.

His eyes glowed a strange yellow, everyone paused, Jinora's eyes were wide, not believing what she was seeing. There was a wrong spiritual energy around them, Jinora felt the hairs on her arm stand on end.

The glowing faded as Kai's body slipped into unconsciousness.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	5. Manipulation

**5.** **Manipulation**

The pain was the worse he had ever felt, he couldn't even begin to explain. He was completely aware under the pain, he couldn't feel anything happening _to_ his physical self, but he was consciously aware. He was about to tackle Jinora, his body had collided with hers, knocking her a few inches one way, when, _bam._ Something had stuck his body, all had went black, the pain was instant and violent. In the moments where the pain seemed to waver before intensifying, he would try and contemplate what was happening to him, comparing it to all the worse pain he could remember.

Being pelted with rocks by the Dai Li, _bring it on_.

Falling hundreds of feet and hitting multiple branches before having his feet caught in a wedged branch and hanging there for ages, _love it_.

Being exploded, _fantastic._

Being hungover, _err, I guess so._

Something must have happened to his body, there wasn't anything around him, he felt like he was floating, drifting in the darkness. Still mentally aware, he tried yelling out for someone, anyone, _is this my first spirit world journey? If so, this is super lame. I hope I am not dead._ The pain was now going in a pattern, _pain, no pain, pain, no pain_ , alternating _._ He hoped eventually it would be no pain at all, then again he also hoped for light, something visible.

 _Ugh, ah, fuck, fuck, fuuuck._ The pain was terrible, aching, thumping, snapping, pulsating. It was so severe it created instants of colour, then came a moment of nothing, then it was back, he didn't understand was going on, why it was happening. He tried to remember the series of events, _okay, Jinora was being… Well, wonderful… Then I wanted to tackle her… Then, I, don't remember…_

 _Arrgh, for the love of…_ It was official, Kai hated this spirit world trip, _how could Korra and Asami possibly do this for six months?! Gah._ He was so bored, he would mentally sigh, grimace and cry against the extraordinary pain, then return to the tedium of not existing. He felt like he had been, wherever he was, for hours when something finally happened. He was confused, _what is that smell?_

It was strong, strangely pleasant, he recognized it as he regained feeling in his extremities. Light blasted into his eyes as they slowly opened, his body still hurt, he gripped the sheets of medical bed, Kya was the first thing he saw. "Kya?" he mumbled, wanting to make sure she was actually there.

"Hey Kai." She smiled quietly, capping the lid to a small bottle of smelling salts, gifted to her from her Auntie Suki. They had worked a million times before, bring people out of hangovers, unconsciousness, and once, Aang from a spirit world trip. Kya was only ten at the time, not realising that she shouldn't be doing that. " _Salts are for sickness, not bringing people back from spirit trips_." Katara had smiled, rubbing her shoulder, Aang had kissed her forehead and scowled at Suki, everyone else thought it was hilarious.

"What time is it? How long have I been out?" Kai grumbled, trying to sit up. Kya let him, eyeing him cautious.

"Only an hour." She said, this time loud enough to alert Jinora and Tenzin, they were standing on the opposite side of the room talking to Lin and Suyin. All four turned and rushed towards the bed, Jinora threw herself at Kai, wrapping her arms around her neck and hugging him. He was surprised, returning the embrace and mimicking the surprised blush on her cheeks. "Everyone was worried about you." Kya smiled as Jinora realised him.

"Do you remember anything that happened to you, kid?" Lin said stepping forward as she spoke, wanting to get straight into what happened.

"No, I-I was going to tackle Jinora, you know, for… Training… Purposes…" Kai peeked at Tenzin, he didn't look impressed, "But then something hit me as I knocked into her, she stumbled back and I hit the ground. Then I was floating in some lame, boring, black space and had pain all over very few minutes, for, like, hours. It hurt, and never changed."

Everyone looked between themselves, "Huh?" a few said.

Kai shrugged, "I don't know how else to explain it…"

"Your eyes glowed for a brief moment, it was terrifying." Jinora whispered.

"Maybe I am another Avatar?" Kai shrugged, trying to lighten the tense mood around him.

"Your eyes glowed yellow, not white." Lin said, crossing her arms, _heavens forbid that someone like Kai become an Avatar… One is enough._

Suyin looked at Lin before speaking, "Myself and Lin caught two men running in the opposite direction from where you were, err, hit. They had a slingshot in their hand… It look suspicious, so we trapped them on charges of 'trespassing', they were pretty far away from the plateau though... We need you to see if you recognise them, I believ-" Tenzin and Lin cleared their throats in synchronization, " _We_ believe that they could have something to do with it… Maybe hit you with a dart or something?"

"What type of dart would cause a glow?" Lin said impatiently, "And there was nothing found on the mountain top…"

"Maybe a spirit ran into you by accident?" Kya mumbled, "You know, like, accidently bumped into you? If possessing can kill… Maybe bumping can injure?"

"A spirit running into me would be more likely than a dart. Maybe I trode on a spirit..." Kai said, "Why would someone randomly track down the airbenders just to poison one? And not even an important one…"

"You are important." Jinora smiled softly, Kai returned her smile.

Lin ignored them, _urg, young love_ , "Well, it beats me, kid. But all we know, is that when Su and I went on our walk, they ran right past us and looked guilty as hell when we stopped them."

"Well, whatever keeps everyone happy, Chief." Kai said, gripping the sheets as pain stirred softly in his chest.

…

The excited murmurs travelled through the crowd of people, all eager to see the results of the two individual's mission. The master stood tall, everyone become visibly uncomfortable when the spirit, Bú Yi, hovered next to him. They knew the abilities Bú Yi had when it came to possessing and controlling a fellow spirit or human's body, this made many worried that it might try it on them. The master held the pendent high in the air, he addressed the congregation, "My friends, our time has finally come. Youi and Naiwa have succeeded in bonding the spirit to the young master. Our ally here has felt the surge of power that comes with possession, and now, we are on the inside." They clapped politely, all feeling the exhilaration of this first of many successes. "Let us test our insight." The man smiled at Bú Yi, an image appeared on the pendant, this time, all could see.

…

"These are the men we caught, Kai." Suyin said, leading them in with her sister. They were chained, Kai studied their features, he glanced at Jinora habitually.

"Do you recognise them?" Tenzin asked.

Kai was about to answer with a 'no', but suddenly pain struck through his chest and head, he couldn't react to it, trapped inside his own body. _What the fuc-_ "Yeeu! Neena! Of course I know these guys, lady!"

…

The master's face crinkled in fury when, through the eyes of the possessed, he saw the intended target. "Who is _Kai_?!" the master growled, hearing one of the women speak his name, "We were after the girl! The master!"

Bú Yi rolled its eyes, "Your imbeciles must have struck the wrong subject."

The tall man with the arrows, the other master, Master Tenzin from memory, was addressing the subject, Kai. _"Do you recognise them?"_ he said, the eyes of Kai moved across to Youi and Neiwa, the master scowled. He only had a few seconds to react, they would notice if he took too long to reply.

"Give me the control." The master snarled, Bú Yi floated forward and instructed the master to place his thumb in the centre of the pendant, giving him control over Kai's physical self. He thought about what he wanted Kai to do, and how to act, Kai's voice repeated as it played out in the master's mind, " _Yeeu! Neena! Of course I know these guys, lady!_ "

…

Youi and Naiwa looked confused, it didn't take long for them to realise that the master was speaking for Kai. They were relieved, responding to the random teenager as if they were old friends, "Kai!" Youi smiled, remembering the name from when the police woman's apparent sister had spoken it, "Long time no see, friend."

"Must've been a few years." Naiwa said, he had a lot less confidence than his partner.

"How are the wife and kids? Is your eldest still as pretty as ever?" Kai said, his entire physical self was in pain, there was no control, his mental self was screaming and trying to fight against the intrusion, _what is happening?! What is in me?!_ He could feel Jinora look at him when he mentioned a pretty girl, her eyebrows furrowing. What he didn't know, was that Jinora was more confused about the strange spiritual energy. Lin was scowling from being called ' _lady'_ , he felt his body lean back against the head of the bed, it was against his conscious will, he tried again to cry out, nothing.

"She misses you, Kai. Anui talks about you all the time." Youi smiled, at this, Jinora raised an eyebrow in irritation. Naiwa scowled lightly, Youi had used his wife's name for his pretend daughter, "See, ladies? This is just a big misunderstanding, we recognised him and we were about to go see him, _then_ realised that sneaking was not the best approach."

"Then why did you run?" Suyin asked, "And a slingshot was in your hand?" she questioned while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, two _fine_ , _fit_ woman are chasing us?" he smiled smoothly, "What can I say, I didn't know you were both ' _friendly'_."

There was a pause, "The slingshot?" Lin prompted.

"Hunting, you know, for… Animals." Naiwa said nervously, trying his hardest to be smooth, impromptu was not his thing.

"So, you _do_ know these two guys, Kai?" Lin asked, looking straight at Kai. Both Lin and Suyin knew they were lying, but Kai was responding to them, _perhaps nervous about being caught?_ They both thought to themselves.

 _No! No, I don't know who they are! Lin, HELP ME! PLEASE?!_ "Yes, of course I do!" his body smiled against his will, it was terrible, crushing.

He tried to hold Lin's eyes, praying that she could somehow see the pain in his. She just huffed and turned away, impatient with, what she suspected, was a slight charade, "They seem like the type of people you would mingle with in your past…" She unclasped the cuffs from the men and placing them back on her belt, stepping back beside Tenzin.

"Well, we would love to stay, Kai, another day perhaps? Maybe when you feel better?" Naiwa said, eager to get out of there, knowing that the master would cover them.

"Yeah, I actually am feeling pretty weak. If you remember seeing anyone else suspicious, make sure to tell this lovely police lady." A cheeky Kai smirked, Lin raised an eyebrow.

"That is _Chief_ to you, kid." Lin snarled, watching the two men leave, _something isn't right_.

…

Kai was alone in his medic bed, Kya had gone to get some food for herself, thinking he was sleeping. Really, he was just waiting for the severe pain again, preparing for it, wanting to know what set it off. _Maybe I was dreaming?_ _How else could I be staying something without wanting to? It doesn't make sense._ He opened his eyes when he was sure Kya was gone, he clicked his tongue, the sound echoed. _No pain… Is kinda gain._ He thought carefully, he opened his mouth, "Jin- _or_ -a. Jinora," _maybe speaking doesn't have anything to do with it…_ It took him a moment to realise that of all the words he could have chosen, it was her name. He smiled softly, momentarily forgetting that something was seriously wrong with him.

He thought he would try again, taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth, "Jin-or-a _rrrrggghhhhh_!" the pain was sudden, he groaned as he was forced into a sitting position, " _What the fu-_ _ **arghh!**_ " he tried to yell for Kya, Jinora, Tenzin, Lin, Korra, somebody. _Anybody_. His mouth was now closed, he couldn't even groan or hum, his hand reached for the piece of paper and one of Kya's special sharpened charcoal pieces beside his bed, he tried to stop.

His hand wrote slowly, he grunted against it as he watched his arm work against him, scrawling the words in handwriting that looked nothing like his own. He read the words back to himself, horror creeping into his mind, he had never felt this way. Physically sickened, yet with no control, the calligraphy began to form full sentences, he read, reacting internally to it all.

If he could have widened his eyes, he would have.

If he could have gasped, he would have.

If he could have cried, he would have.

" _To keep this to the point, you are now a vessel, our vessel. We will be watching, we control you until we complete what we aim to complete. If you tell anyone, we will take their lives, using your own hands. We will meet._ "

At first he tried to calm himself, thinking of a million different ways to blurt it out, shout it to the whole population of the temple. Could his will power alone stop them from taking over his body to such an extent that he would take a life, or he could just be able to tell them to run away as soon as he finished saying what he had to. He tried again to calm himself as he reread the script over and over, _I can do this._ He kept his hand firmly on the page, _Kya will return soon… She will see and she will help. She would kick my ass from here to Republic City if I tried to fight her…_ The pain returned quickly, shooting through his chest and down his arm, his head turned involuntarily towards the candle beside his bed. His fingers gripped the paper from his lap, lifting it.

 _No…_ He knew what was about to happen, he groaned loudly inside his own mind, almost yelling with the amount of effort.

The pain intensified, it was like he wasn't even trying, _useless, persist_.

 _NO! NO! NO!_ The hand hovered above the candle, the paper rippling softly from the heat currents rising from the flame as Kai's hand lowered it. It began to burn him slightly, it was like he had no will power at all, the pain crushed through his being. He wished that something would end it all for him, he didn't want to live like this forever. He groaned once more, a final feeble attempt to save the only evidence that would even begin to physically explain what is happening to him. Nothing, he felt something break inside his mind, as the paper caught alight.

If he _could_ speak, he wouldn't dare.

…

"I initially viewed your screw up of the simple task as a failure…" the master said, rumbling softly. Youi and Naiwa glanced at each other, equally nervous and terrified at what might become of them, their only solace being that the master had used the word ' _initially'_. "But I think we have been gifted with an extraordinary opportunity here, gentlemen." Bú Yi smirked as he spun his body into a larger version of the pendant, allowing all in the small room to see it clearly, Kai sat in the infirmary bed, his hand being forced to burn the letter they had made him write to himself. It began to burn his own hand, as the letter was nothing but a charred corner, they decided to give him a break. They could hear him sobbing quietly as they returned to him momentary control over his physical being, he brought his hands to his face, wiping the tears from his eyes and stopping his nose from dripping.

Bú Yi screwed up its face, "Humans are disgusting, always dripping with some form of liquid…"

"Master," Youi said softly, watching as the teenager's body convulsed gently while he sniffed, "What is the opportunity?"

The master looked annoyed, as though Youi had missed something important and painfully obvious, "He may not be a master yet, but he has something that not even we could conjure, that something gives him such a level of control over our original target…" he trailed off in amazement, "That master, that little woman, Jinora will do anything for that boy, I doubt even he knows the level of power he as over her. True, it could have worked the other way, but," he turns and watches through Kai's eyes, as he stares sadly at his own hands, hands that the master controls, "We can take them all out with our new weapon, and this seems more likely, the master seemed too perfect… No one would believe it if she slaughtered anyone, while this boy, he seems to have a past..."

Someone asked quietly, "How are you sure we have this advantage?"

He smiled in a way that is so astute, so cruel, that Youi and Naiwa are terrified for what they have done. "Because they are in _love…_ "

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	6. Terror

**_6._ ** **_Terror_ **

Jinora sat cross-legged on her bed, she sighed contently as she turned the page in her book. The two protagonists were together, frolicking in fields and whispering romantic things to each other. She knew it was not to last, there was two thirds of the book left, so Jinora knew that an antagonist was not far off. A beautiful woman was introduced, envious thoughts already raising from the female lover, _ahh, there she is… Her name is probably Anui…_ She placed her bookmark into the fragile pages, and placed it gently on the bed. She walked out into the hall and headed down to the infirmary, she had left Kai to rest for the night, and had decided to give him some room to recover. She didn't know why a past crush, _or whatever she is…_ bothered her so much, perhaps it was that he called her pretty in front of her. _Does he ever call me pretty to other people?_ She sighed loudly as she approached the infirmary, she breathed deeply and put a warm smile on her face, prepared to see Kai.

She rounded a corner and was surprised by the amount of spiritual energy she could sense. It wasn't like any type of energy she had encountered before, it was subtle, yet felt like it was established. She couldn't explain it any other way, she placed her hand against the wall, _not here…_ She walked through the halls, slowly approaching objects, tracing her fingers over them. _It is coming from this way,_ she moved towards the infirmary, _this is so strange…_

"I still don't understand how you burnt yourself, Kai." Jinora heard her auntie talking, she sounded suspicious. _Kai burnt himself?_ Jinora thought, quickening her pace towards the doorway.

"It was an accident."

His voice caused Jinora to hesitate at the door, his speech sounded so strained. It was like he was reading from a terrible script, or like he was pretending to be enjoying something clearly tedious. She took a cautious step, the energy was stronger when he had spoken, it felt wrong like it shouldn't be wherever it was, _is it trapped? Poor thing.._. _Maybe Kai and Auntie Kya are scaring it._

She walked through the door into the infirmary, Kai's hand was engulfed in water, Kya swirling it skilfully. "Good afternoon, Kai." She said softly, Kai looked up and a small smile appeared across his face, there was the energy again, Jinora quickly spun. _The spirit must be avoiding me…_ _Or everyone else…_

"What are you doing, Jinora?" Kya said, seeing her spin, "Have you lost something?"

"N-no," she said, the energy was gone again, "Just trying to find something. A spirit seems to be in distress."

 _No! Jinora, don't!_ Kai didn't want her to discover it yet, she needed to wait until they were in a more public place. There needed to be more people that could help him, or stop him.

"Well your uncle _is_ singing to the masses about the ' _ole days'…_ " Kya said, twitching her head towards the window.

"That must be it." Jinora giggled, hearing traces of her uncle's voice drifting through the window.

Kai was returned control after he smiled, he held the smile for a moment, genuinely relieved to have Jinora near him, equally frightened. He knew that whatever had control was watching, was waiting. He decided to abide until he had a plan, it was obvious they couldn't control his thoughts, _just everything else…_ He pouted internally, "Jinora," He smiled, _say something innocent,_ "How is your book going?"

"The antagonist was just introduced, so, it is pretty tense." She smiled, sitting beside him and watching her aunt swirl the water around his hand, "How did you burn yourself?" she took his free hand in hers.

"I know the feeling…" He froze, realising what he had said, "Yeah, umm, accidently." He said quickly, not wanting to hesitate too long. _If they think you are working with them, they won't feel a need to hurt anyone. They won't feel the need to hurt Jinora._

"All done, Kai." Kya smiled, she parted with telling Kai to relax, and to stay away from fire. He and Jinora sat quietly for a moment as her aunt left the room, he peeked at her cautiously, watching her lips, her eyes, her cheeks as she spoke to him about something, he had no clue what. She had paused, looking at him expectantly, she had asked him a question.

He was too scared to open his mouth, _what if I say something that they think might blow their cover? What if I kill her? I can't…_ The pain tore through him, "Yes, they were from my past. Nice guys, a bit slow though." He felt his body say, _stay away from her!_ He felt physically sick that _they_ were communicating with her, using his body, his voice. Nausea swarmed him as his mouth continued to move, as she continued to smile at her, it hurt. He knew from the words he had spoken, that she was asking about the men from earlier.

Jinora had felt the increase of spiritual energy when Kai had spoken, it seemed to be coming from Kai. _Maybe the spirit is being drawn to Kai, hiding near him? Or perhaps, if, the spirit had bumped into him, it gave him a bit more spiritual energy… What if he can project himself! That would be amaz-_

He felt the control return to his body, he audibly sighed, relieved to be free of the severe discomfort of possession, and that they were no longer talking to her. Jinora smiled at him, realising that this probably wasn't something to talk about yet, "Are you tired?"

"Just of being in here." He said cautiously. An idea struck him, _if I go out there now, near Lin and Korra, and bring up spirits again, I can talk and they can stop me from hurting anyone!_

"Well, Kya did say you just had to watch the hand for infection… We could go down for some lunch!" She smiled at the idea, "Do you want to do that?"

"I would love to." He said quickly, _if they try and change my sentences mid-speech, she might notice… Someone might notice._

_Someone needs to._

...

Lin was watching Kai carefully, she knew something was up, something was wrong. She watched as Kai smiled carefully, spoke quickly, even Bolin had commented on it. Everyone joked it was because Jinora's birthday was less than a week away, and Kai still hadn't gotten her a gift. But how his heart was fluttering ridiculously, Lin kept her feet on the stone floor, the sole of her metal boot retracted, _that couldn't be it_.

Blocking out everything around her, focusing on Kai, she didn't know why she cared so much for the young man. He sort of reminded her of Mako, _troubled past, turned good… Slingshots for hunting? This isn't the old days, even mum had advanced weapons when she was young. And what game is even located in these mountains, well, the herd? Though slingshots couldn't take down a sky bison… This is ridiculous, there must be a reasonable explanation for why this is so suspicious._ She watched for longer, her book before her, her tea gone cold. There was something in his eyes, something she could see from across the room.

 _Terror_.

She knew it wasn't something Tenzin could have possibly threaten, violence or otherwise, he is harmless. She contemplated what it must have felt like, floating in nothing for, what he thought, hours. Consistent pain, with nothing to distract him, not having any control over a situation could cause panic and terror in anyone.

Her mind flipped to when she kneeled before Amon, the feeling of his fingers, unnaturally warm, pressed against her forehead. Losing her contact with the armour that covered her, the earth beneath her, he feeling of pure terror that she had endured.

Suddenly there was a loud sound as someone slammed a plate down in front of her, and another beside her. She spun quickly, grabbing the scruff of the individual's shirt and flicking her wrist, the armour that was wrapped around her forearm formed a blade. Bumi's eyes were wide and terrified, the room was quiet, she was breathing quickly, her heart was almost audible to him. Bumi slowly raised his hand to unhook her fingers from his shirt, "Don't tell me I managed to catch you off guard, Linny?" It went from a cocky statement to an almost concerned question, she was usually on-the-ball.

There was silence as she retracted her blade, "Don't call me that." She growled, sinking back into her seat, everyone still watched her. She scowled towards them, they all turned away, except Kai.

She held his eyes, they widened, then rapidly blinked, only a few times. Halfway through the fourth blink attempt, his eyes stayed wide, before looking back towards Jinora, whom was speaking to the small group they were eating with. Lin was confused, " _What the fuck_?" she muttered to herself.

"I _said_ ," Bumi smiled, "I hope you like Southern Water Tribe style noodles."

"Not you!" she hushed, but then she saw his face droop, she turned towards him, "Thank-you." She said quickly, he smiled widely, twirling a large amount onto his chopsticks and raising it to his mouth.

"Ah-ahem, _err_ , what were _you_ talking about?" Bumi said softly, leaning in while slurping up noodles, looking in the direction she was.

She placed a few noodles in her mouth, chewing slowly, "There is something off about Kai."

…

All he wanted to do was hold her close, to kiss her, touch her. But he couldn't, he didn't want anyone beside them to be in on one of their moments. They sat before the fireplace in the library, it was a surprisingly cold night and everyone else had left them at varying points. Facing him, reading her book aloud after giving Kai a brief synopsis on what had happened up to that point. Not that Kai would have minded, he just wanted to hear her speak. Her voice curved around the words in a way that had him intrigued, from the minute she started her current chapter, he was immersed in the sound. Every few minutes, the fear that someone would take his control in this moment away cause his heart to race and his stomach to turn.

He thought about the possibility of spending the rest of his life with someone watching everything that happened around him. It chilled him to the core, made him feel sick. He imagined never being able to talk freely, always the concern that someone may try to change him. He thought about never being able to kiss and touch Jinora in privacy, he knew they both wanted more of each other. They appeared new to the physical aspect of their love, but after years of building the relationship from all other angles, they felt set for anything. _Except perhaps this_ , Kai thought.

He went on to think about the conversation Jinora had shyly approached on the way back to the infirmary after lunch, about how she would seek Kya about contraceptives for a later date. The conversation would have excited them both in any other scenario, but Kai hated the thought of someone else listening in on them, he ended up dismissing the topic to stop Jinora from speaking about it. She looked hurt, and that made Kai angry. Angry at the spirit living within him, angry at the being controlling him, angry that no one was able to help him. He sighed internally and lifted his eyes to the beautiful young woman before him, his heart ached.

He had noticed that Jinora had stopped talking, he looked up properly and saw her mouth slightly opened, her eyes wide, "What is it?" Kai said carefully.

"The characters are," she blushed, "I think they are about to have sex…"

"Really?" Kai smirked.

Jinora slowly turned the next page, she scanned it quickly, her blush deepen, "Oh! They are…" she started to close the book, Kai raised an eyebrow.

"You aren't going to continue?" he smiled.

She thought about being dismissed from the topic of sex earlier, she was worried. She didn't want to seem like she was pushing the topic, so she made an excuse, "I don't think I would be able to, I would be too embarrassed!" she almost giggled, "I have never read a book like, _this_ , before."

"You haven't?" he smiled wider as her blush became almost a glow.

"Have you?" she said incredulously.

"Well actually…" Kai said, scratching the back of his neck and smiling guiltily, "There are a few books down here is the education section. A few of us have snuck down and flipped through them, they are more for education, and some are in the comedy section… They aren't as terrible as you think."

"I didn't say ' _terrible'_! I said it would be embarrassing for me to read out to an audience." She said, peaking at the page again. _Embarrassing if I made you uncomfortable again…_

"I will read it." He smiled. Jinora raised an eyebrow, she didn't know if he was just going to make fun of her, "Granted, I may not be as good of a reader, but I can try."

She slowly handed him the book, he took it and pointed at the top of the page, raising an eyebrow, as if to ask if this is where he reads from. Jinora smiled widely and nodded, curious to see if he would actually read the story, or make something up. "He had her against the wall, their kiss was thoughtful and unhurried." He peaked at her over the top of the book, Jinora was smiling widely, still blushing furiously. He continued, "The air became trapped in her throat, as his large hand toured up her leg, already hooked up over his waist. His lips slid over her neck, she couldn't believe the e-… Ec- _tas_ sy?" Kai was struggling on a word, he turned it around and held his finger beneath it, Jinora leant forward.

"Ecstasy." She smiled, he nodded to himself and turned the book back towards him. _Maybe I just needed to give him some time to get used to the idea… Perhaps we better stick to kissing, he likes that._ She felt better almost immediately.

"She couldn't believe the _ecstasy_ she was feeling in this moment, she wished for it to never end." He took a deep breath, looking at the next page, "His hands were gentle as the stroked up and down the inside of her soft, silky thighs, his lips never leaving her neck. He felt the temp-per-a-ture… Temp _erature_ … He felt the _temperature_ change under his hands, he moved them slowly towards her-"

Kai was knocked back by a force, his mind automatically flipped to being controlled, but he realised what was actually happening when Jinora's lips crushed down on his. For a moment he was alarmed, but the lack of pain eased his worries. He dropped the book next to their bodies and ran one of his hands down her back, the other up into her hair. Their lips moved together, Kai was on his back, Jinora lay on top of him, her body fitting between his legs. He blushed as his body reacted to their contact, he knew Jinora could feel it too, but she didn't say anything.

Fear was still strong in his mind, but he hadn't realised how much he needed a moment like this. He moved his lips from her own and kissed softly down her chin and to her neck, she moaned softly in his ear, barely a whisper. His entire body was on a high, he revelled in the closeness, feeling safe with her. He pushed up off his side and rolled on top of her, she let out a surprised laugh, he pulled away to gaze at her.

The fire light set off her skin in the most perfect way, he carefully reached forward and pushed a large section of hair that was draped across her forehead and cheek. He studied her eyes, wide with excitement, they were that rich burgundy colour again, like on the balcony, like the grapes.

They were still new to the physical side of their relationship, but, their progression together was, in their eyes, perfect. He kissed her softly, she sighed again, this time the sighed enfolded around his name, his body caught alight in a pleasurable warmth as he sighed hers in return. Jinora could feel his erection pressed against the inside of her leg, her body hummed with excitement, her mind running through what may happen. She felt her whole body warm with his, she gently reach for the buttons on his shirt, only undoing the top four. She was surprised she had gotten that far, her hands were shaking slightly, she could feel his smooth, warm skin. She pulled her lips away from his mouth and pushed them to his neck, as he had done to her. His hands tighten in her hair, but he was careful not to hurt her, then it happened.

There was flicker of pain.

He recognised it immediately, having become used to it, his breathing quickened and sweat broke out across his body. He didn't know why there was only a flicker, perhaps they weren't prepared to actually control him, trying to think of something to make him do. He didn't want to give them a chance, he pushed himself off Jinora, jumping back into a book case and gripping the stone and wooden shelves.

The sweat was visible on his forehead and his heart thumped so heavily and quickly, that it was noticeable in his own vision. Jinora sat on the floor, her lips were reddened and her face flushed, she looked concerned, scared even. The pain flickered again, quick, severe, something must have been wrong on their end, the first flicker had practically knocked the air from his body. He backed away, _when will it explode and take me over completely? I can't be near Jinora, I can't let them be near Jinor-_

"K-Kai?" Jinora whispered, getting onto her knees, "Is-is something wrong?"

He didn't answer her for a moment, he was yelling at himself to get away from her, "I… I have to go." He turned and ran, hearing her yell his name once more. He burst out of the library door, the cold air hit him like a wrecking ball, the contrast with the sweat and heat on his skin almost burned. He gripped a pillar in the hall for support breathing deeply, he heard Jinora coming, he ran, he needed to get away from her.

He crashed into something, they fell to the ground, there was a thump as their head hit the ground, Lin shoved him off her and stood quickly, "What are you doing, you imbecile?!" she yelled, Suyin, Opal and Bolin watched wearily, he had come out of nowhere. He leapt to his feet and ran, Lin threw her cables after him, _I am getting to the bottom of this!_

Kai heard them coming, he turned a blasted air towards them to deter them, _I can't be near anyon-_ , the pain flickered once more before erupting, they had control of him. The blast knocked Lin's cables into the stone pillars leaving two long, deep marks, they became struck fast in the stone, "Su!" Lin said loudly, trying to unstuck her cables. He panicked, only wanting to knock the cables back, _don't hurt them!_ His body began to strike more towards them, _stop!_

Suyin threw her cables out as Kai was spun back for another strike, one of the cables scraped across him arm. He struck again and again, as if the long cut down his arm was nothing, Bolin raised earth to deter the air from the group, when he lowered it, Kai was gone.

…

"You idiots." The master growled, Bú Yi snarled in synchronisation with the master.

"But master, we didn't know…" one mumbled, they had been in charge of watching the pendent, only to act if Kai planned on speaking out about what was happening to him. When they saw Kai and Jinora kissing, one of them decided it was the appropriate moment to go to the bathroom. He was not overly comfortable with watching two sixteen year olds kiss, thinking it was too private. He had bumped the table in the darkness, diving to catch the pendent, his thumb pressed on the glowing centre. He realised and released immediately, but for a moment he had control, when they realized Kai had noticed, one ran to wake the master, another panicked and pushed it again, trying to find a way to reverse their mistake. He then placed it on the table, decided to leave it for the master to handle. By the time the master had arrived, Kai was running away from the two metalbending women. Bú Yi, having extensive knowledge of bending, gained from taking over benders and teaching himself the basics, fought them off before making Kai bolt away.

"Because of your stupidity and rash thinking, we have no choice but to bring him _here_. The plan needs to be pushed forward, and actions rushed. We were expecting to have him inside the temple for another six days! He was only there for two under our control! How could be so stupid?!"

"Bu-but!" one of the mumbled, tumbling over the simple word.

"Get them out of my sights." The master grumbled, waving his hand.

The men were removed from the room, Bú Yi swirled himself around, showing Kai, walking against his will, to the base of a large cave. He had been walking and airbending for nearly three hours, the master having set a competent ally on the pendent, assuring her arrives. "Let us prepare for our guest."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	7. Missing

**_7\. Missing_ **

Jinora didn't want to believe what had happened, when she had emerged from the library, Bolin was lowering a block of earth meant as a defence, an ancient pillar had two fresh slices, there was a trail of blood and Lin had a bruise on her temple. Now Jinora sat, her hands in her lap, trying to hold in tears as Asami and Korra patted her shoulder. _What did I do so wrong?_ She thought, cheeks reddening with the thought of her failing at, well, anything. _Did I trigger something? A bad memory? Why can't I sense his spirit? Where did he go?_

Tenzin, Lin, Bumi, Kya, Suyin and Pema were talking, Bolin and Mako would speak every so often. Opal was the most concerned next to Jinora, they had spent two years as partners travelling the earth kingdom, she had never seen him as he was, "The blood stopped at the northern balcony, and Lefty is still in his stable. I hope he is okay…" she said softly, Bolin had his arm around her shoulder.

"I told you all that I didn't believe him from the start, something about the story was cock-en-bull." Lin grumbled, she had a block of material-wrapped ice on her temple to prevent swelling.

"Why would he attack?" Pema said, she was worried for Kai.

"The strange behaviour has been happening for a week now, since his spirit world trip." Tenzin said, looking out the window.

"If that was even what it was…" Kya said, crossing her arms and glaring with impatience at her younger brother.

"What do you mean?" Tenzin said, turning towards his elder sister, "He even said that what he thought it was."

"Like he'd know, Tenzin!" Kya snapped, "All he knows was he was in pain, in darkness and alone. Does that sound like any spirit world journey you have had?"

"Well, when we went to the Fog of Lost Souls…" Bumi mumbled, the three siblings shuddered involuntarily.

"If he had gone there, his spirit would still be there! _We_ barely made it out!" Tenzin said.

"Tenzin, now is not the time to be yelling at everyon-" Suyin started, but Tenzin cut her off.

"Jinora, tell us again. What _exactly_ happened before he ran off?"

"I already told you!" she her bottom lip was puckering slightly, Asami knew she was lying before she had even started. Korra had the same habit when she was upset and didn't want to talk about it, Asami knew it well.

"You must have missed something!" He said, he didn't mean to yell, but this was a member of their Nation. He was just as worried, and equally furious for the lack of explanation and property damage, he was taking in out on Jinora unintentionally.

"Tenzin!" Asami growled, Tenzin was surprised, she swished her hand, gesturing for everyone to back-off, "Jinora…" she said softly, Korra held the young master's hand, "Tell Korra and I what happened." Jinora peeked up at her father, "Ignore everyone else, just me and Korra want to hear, tell us everything that happened."

Jinora felt her lip pucker more, her eyes stung as she blinked, tears rolling down her cheek, she was so worried. _They will laugh at me. They will all blame me-_ "Jinora, you can tell us." Korra whispered, interrupting her thoughts. Jinora drew in a long, shaky breath, Mako and Bolin moved forward slightly, unintentionally blocking out Tenzin, Lin and Suyin. Jinora felt strangely better, she loved her father and admired the Beifong sisters, but something about all their gazes made her feel tiny.

"I was reading to him, a-and, then I got embarrassed because of the part in the book." She hiccupped once, wiping her nose with her free hand, Korra drew little circles on the back of Jinora's hand to calm her. "K-Kai took over reading… And then…" she lowered her head and sniffed loudly, "Then I jumped on him, and we were ki-kissing." She wiped her eyes and nose again, she hadn't said this part earlier, scared of what her father and everyone else would say, "And it was all going good, it was nice, until he sud-suddenly froze up and ran off, like he didn't want me near him…" she felt the tears keep coming as Asami held her tightly, comforting her, Korra released her hand and rubbed her back as she cried into Asami's shoulder, "He didn't want me near him..." she repeated shakily, the feeling of rejection was strong and raw, she felt terrible about herself and Kai.

"That can't be it, Jinora!" Bolin smiled, walking forward and squatting to her height, "He is crazy about you!"

Mako also walked forward to comfort her, "Yeah, I say, we go find him, then sit down and talk this _through_."

"You can't keep making guesses about why he got upset." Korra smiled.

"Or blaming yourself." Asami murmured.

"It wasn't like we were doing anything wrong." She sniffed, feeling better about having people closer to her age speaking to her, "Maybe he thought it was being forced on him…"

"That is what young people do, Jinora!" Asami smiled, "They kiss and touch, they test the waters, there is nothing to be upset about. You and Kai have a very respecting, spiritually based relationship, if that was it, Kai would have said so, like I am sure you would to him."

"He even asked me about love, my daring, darlin' niecey." Bumi smiled widely, "He cares for you greatly, and surely everything will make sense when he returns."

Opal smiled warmly, the sixteen year old master had never looked so tiny or terrified in her five years of knowing her. She took in a shaky breath after Bumi's words, Opal brushed Jinora's hair back with her fingers, "The only one who knows what is going on is Kai."

…

 _What the fuck is going on?!_ Kai yelled internally, no one could hear him, and he doubted anyone was pursuing. _Lin is going to slaughter me… If I don't die out here first._ The deep cuts from Suyin's cable throbbed, the blood was still dripping from his fingertips as it ran slowly down his arm.

He was beginning to feel light headed, sick, tired.

That wasn't even taking into account the severe pain from being under the control of whomever currently possessed him, he prayed to the spirits that he would still be able to become a master. _What if the injury ruins my bending in this arm?_ He thought, _how will I be able to fight then?_

 _Wait… No! That is good! If I make it back, and my arm is weak, even Huan could take me down… And let's be real, he is not the biggest fighter…_ He realised he didn't care for his bending in the grand scheme of things, rather lose it forever, than hurt a member of his nation. Rather lose himself than hurt Jinora.

 _She must hate me, she must think that I was using her…_ His vision felt blurred, still his body pushed on. After a few more minutes he seemed to be stumbling, his eyes drifting closed.

He felt like this cave would never end, like he was doomed to die inside its walls. _Not even Wu and his…_ His body was getting increasingly weaker, everything was becoming increasingly more blurry, _and his… His badgermoles could find…_ Darkness stained the outside of his vision as he felt his body drop to the solid, dusty ground, _find me here…_

It felt like, what Kai supposed, was a decent night of sleep, when, _urgh, great, back here again._ Kai thought, his mental self had come out of, what he assumed was, unconsciousness, but his physical self was floating in that terrible black space. In the worse possible way, he liked it here, the pain was a consistent pulsing, he knew when the breaks were coming. He had to wonder why he was back here, _what did I do now? What do they expect me to do? Wh-what… What will they make me do?_ There was a strange pressure on his arm, the darkness stretched on while he came up with a million plans, getting increasingly more desperate.

…

Jinora didn't leave her room on her birthday, only venturing briefly to the library once the follow day, everyone who came inside the room only saw her curled up on her bed. Her arms hugged her knees and her eyes were swollen and red from crying, hair messy from restless sleeping patterns. She didn't want anyone else to walk in and try and comfort her, she didn't want people to make assumptions, or even to try to understand. She wanted to be alone, she didn't want anyone else in here, and even if she did, she didn't know where he was.

Korra had tried to feel for him too, pressing her hand to the spirit vines just south of the temple. She would meditate into the spirit world and search for him there, there was no sign of him. Hushed whispers of betrayal and evil forces swirled amongst those she did speak too, but they would never elaborate. Korra returned with her head slumped and in an increasingly bad mood, muttering about spirits and secrets. They had decided to give him a few days, they spoke about him as if he had deceived them somehow. Jinora would ignore them, scowl at them, they only made her feel worse.

She had read the scene in the book over and over, replaying her actions to the characters. Still convinced that she had done something wrong, _maybe a physical relationship was not all it cracked up to be… Maybe he just wants to slow down!_ She felt her body lighten at the thought of her having not actually made a mistake, _we can resume an emotional relationship and try again when we are both ready! We can just-_

There was an energy, it was a familiar energy, it was his energy.

He was back, wherever he was he was back. She lifted her head from her hands, feeling with all she had. It was near. She didn't dare move, she was worried that it would flatter or react, disappear even. She knew that someone's spirit didn't behave that way, but she didn't want to chance it. She sat for what felt like years, waiting, feeling it come closer.

There was a scrapping noise at her door, she walked quickly towards, tearing it open.

Kai leant against the frame of the door, his arm badly bandaged and his face covered in dirt and scratches. They stared at each other, happiness, confusion, anger and shame danced around them in an invisible fog. She suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, he groaned as his arm hit the bed when he stumbled. He looked up at her, letting his head drop back, he was exhausted, but he would not rest until she spoke.

She stood over him, his green eyes peaking at her amidst the dirt covered skin, he looked identical to his stone training, before their kiss. She turned and reached for her little wash basin, it sat on her table, filled with water intended for the next morning. She placed it gently on the floor, not wanting to spill any, she rung the washcloth out thoroughly, before pushing it against his skin. He grated his teeth as the cuts on his jawline and neck burned against the lukewarm water. She would rinse the cloth and then continue cleaning the visible dirt working down his arm, she wasn't being as gentle as Kai hoped, but he was glad to have her near. She lifted his first, unbandaged arm, scrubbing the dirt and traces of blood. There were bruises all over his skin, she was desperate to know what happened. She realised when she was ringing out the cloth, that the water was already too dark to still be sanitary. She grabbed the top of his arm and pulled him to his feet, he groaned again. They walked towards the door, Jinora took a deep breath and let her spiritual projection float through the door, walking down the halls until she reached the closest of many bathing rooms. There was no one around, it was too late at night for anyone to still be awake, besides Jinora and maybe a few others. She returned to her body, still gripping Kai's arm, and pushed through the door. Kai made a noise, Jinora was sure that he had mumbled the word ' _incredible'_ , but didn't seek confirmation.

It took slightly longer for them to reach the bathing room, as Kai stopped and leant against walls to keep from falling over. As Jinora reached the bathing room door and began to unlock it, they heard footsteps, _Now?! Of all times!_

There was nowhere for them to hide, Jinora tried to unlock the door with more vigour, and when the lock finally gave, they burst into the room. Kai made a soft noise of pain, Jinora covered his mouth. She hadn't closed the door behind her to avoid making excess noise as Lin and Bumi walked past, Bumi was almost crying with laughter while Lin struggled to keep a straight face as she finished her story, "-On my honour as the Chief of Police, I have never had a more humorous experience on the job than that." She said, still trying not to laugh, she hated her laugh. She held her hands behind her back and stood tall, while Bumi slumped and laughed.

"I must say, Linny." She said, hooking his arm around her waist and pulling her close, "I never took you to be a joker."

"I still would never take you to be serious." Lin smiled, "And Bumi?"

"Yes, m'lady?" Bumi smiled, as charmingly as he could manage,

She pushed him against the wall next to the door, flicking her wrist to have the metal form a blade. She held it gently against the inside of him leg, "Don't call me ' _Linny'_."

Bumi stuttered, "Whatever you say, Chief." Lin released him, walking past the open door and closing it, one of her pet peeves was open doors when there was no one about to use it. Bumi took a breath and practically skipped after her, a massive smile on his face, "I love it when you are feisty." He smiled.

"And when you get under the layer of armour I coat myself in to keep the world out?" she smirked, repeating the speech from a bit over a two weeks ago, she still remembered every word, but would never tell him that.

"Oh, definitely! But the speech was for Kai's sake as well, the boy asked about love, I told him all I knew." Bumi added with a smaller smile, Jinora blinked twice, "What do you say we head to my room?"

After that, Jinora couldn't hear them anymore, _they must have walked up the stairs._ She thought, turning and lighting a lantern inside the dark room. She placed the matches back on the little shelf of ointments and soaps, leaving Kai sitting on the floor, she walked over and began to fill the main bath. The steam filled the room in no time, she locked the door above Kai's head, pulling him to his feet and setting him on the edge of the stone bath. He gasped as her hand brushed the bandage, she looked at him carefully as she began to unwrap it. The bandage itself was dirty and disgusting, there was no silence around them, the water filling the bath echoed loudly in the small room. As she removed the bandage, she almost gasped at the sight of the uneven stitches, the dried blood that matted in the hairs around the cut, it looked terrible.

Jinora was uncertain of if she _should_ , but she _knew_ how to stitch someone up, Bumi and Kya had both taught her. Kya had said that healing open wounds are dangerous, they should always be stitched up first. She walked over to the medical cabinet, digging through the cupboard, she found a waterproof bandage and all she needed to attempt to help. She also grabbed a small jar of bath ointment and a piece of decorative driftwood, it was soft and sturdy. Kai watched her carefully, he wanted to speak, but if they thought he would say something to even hint, they would not hesitate.

He had begged for this time.

She came back and sat beside him, tossing the opened bottle of ointment into the water. She held the driftwood to his mouth, he raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, not caring if he hurt a little, grabbing the clean cloth, she scrubbed at the dirt and blood around the wound, he growled in pain, trying to pull him arm away. She gripped it tightly, holding the piece of driftwood to his lips again, he begrudgingly sunk his teeth into the white-grey wooden flesh. Jinora continued to clean his wound, he bit down, and every now and then a groan or a whine would escape. When the wound was clean, Jinora cut away the old stitches, Kai would try and breathe deeply as the cut slowly opened again, fresh blood beginning to pool. He didn't know Jinora could do something like this, she patted the fresh blood, leaving the hand in her lap as she thread the stitching needle. Now she spoke, her eyes locked with Kai's, "This is going to hurt."

He nodded, biting down on the driftwood, she began. He would cry out as the needle pushed through his skin, groan as she pulled it tight. When she looked up at the halfway point, a tear was rolling from his eye as he tried to remove it quickly, she felt sorry for him, but continued. Finally, she wrapped the unsoiled bandage firmly around the stitching after cleaning it once more, he took the wood from his mouth and sighed heavily. The water in the bath was still going, it was a pump system that recycled the water once it was filled to a particular point, filtering it of any dirt or foreign objects. There were bubbles in the water that smelt similar to sandalwood, they were meant to be a variety of herbs that have antiseptic qualities. Jinora gathered all the soiled supplies and gestured for Kai to get into the bath, when she turned around from disposing the bandages, she watched as Kai lowered his body into the hot water. His shoulders were well defined, streaks of mud across them, along his spine also had tiny cuts. Jinora swallowed, _what could've happened to him?_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**_For those Linumi shippers amongst you all, I have just done a quick fanfiction on their night after they leave the group in chapter one of 'Influence'. It is called 'Lin and Bumi: Joker and the Chief', in case you were curious._ **


	8. Gone

**_8._ ** **_Gone_ **

His eyes flew open.

The ceiling spun, the walls wobbled as if they would spill in on top of him. He could tell this was a natural cave, stalagmites and stalactites protruded from surfaces throughout the cavern. Bolin had taught Kai that this was a dead giveaway, he kept expecting to hear his voice, hear her voice, to hear any voice. He knew for certain that this was not the temple, or within a reasonable distance, and if it was, he had never ventured there before.

His arm throbbed lightly, he peered down as if to check there wasn't a gnarly, bloody stump left behind. He was relieved to see his entire arm was still attached, there was an ugly, thick bandage wrapped tightly over where Suyin had landed her cable on his flesh. The mystery healer had done a terrible job, there was two long streaks of dried blood that still ran down over his fingers, and the edge of the bandage was strained red with blood of an unknown age. Kai groaned loudly as he tried to sit up, there was two long, thick rope-like vines wrapped around his chest and his knees, holding him to the table, he brought his hand up quickly, blasting air in a sharp swipe. The ropes fell from his body and he rolled from the table, he hit the ground hard and groaned again. He struggled to his feet, sighing as he caught the wall for support.

The black tunnels stretched out in all directions, he grumbled an ' _eeny-meeny-miney-mo'_ and shuffled towards one that he hoped would have the exit at the other end. The wall acted as a guide, Kai remembered Jinora once telling him that if the left hand is placed on a wall, it will inevitably lead to an exit. He hobbled for a long period of time, in that time, he had fallen over twice and cut the back of his hand and his shoulder. He was worried when he had realised that he was topless, but didn't even consider why. He just wanted to get out of here, he wished he knew how to make a spiritual connection with someone over a long distance. He could contact Korra and Jinora, having them come to his rescue.

 _This is exactly why I should listen to Tenzin. This was probably all talked about in one of his lectures…_ His fingers where getting small scratches from being pressed to the wall and dragging along. He wasn't sure if it was his eyes playing tricks on him, or if the seemingly dim light at the end of the tunnel was actually real. The light was a yellow-ish, Kai felt his heart race, _the sun must be rising, or setting, or…_ He was rushing towards it, eager to feel the fresh air on his skin. That was when he realised, _it is a room… A FULL ROOM!_ He stumbled out into the room, there was close to fifty men facing the front of the room, Kai paused. He didn't recognise the clothes they were wearing, or the room they were in. There were hand-drawn plans around the chamber, seeming to depict mining equipment much bigger than anything Kai had seen Asami work on. There were also mapped out landscapes of the Northern Temple's surrounding ground, Kai recognised the mountain ranges from Tenzin's geography lesson.

He panicked, backing towards the way he had entered, he had almost disappear from sight. He spun on his heels and came face to face with a spirit, this was not like any spirit he had ever seen. Its sharp-toothed grin was cruel, its pointed ears twitched and its monobrow was lowered into a nasty scowl. Behind the spirit stood an elderly man, he managed to have the same expression despite being human. "Hello Kai _iiiiiiiii_." The spirit snarled, Kai backed up slightly. Acted quickly, swinging his uninjured arm around, thrusting it in their direction. He grunted loudly as the air knocked the old man backwards and sent the spirit through the wall, disappearing into the stone.

He ran, praying to whoever would listen that he wouldn't trip. He rounded a corner, keeping his shoulder adjacent to one wall, he tripped, stumbled and slammed into the opposite wall, losing his balance. He rumbled as he writhed to his feet, taking off in the direction he was facing. He couldn't believe his luck as he saw the greyish-blue light of an early morning. He ran fast, surprised that he could even stand, _collapse when you get away from here-_ "Arrgh!" he was at the entrance of the cave, something was stopping him from exiting, the pain that had become all too familiar had taken over his body as he was forced back into the cave by an invisible force. He groaned against the intrusion, his desperation had never been at this point, " _NO_ -"

…

He wasn't sure where he was, but he recognised how he was strung up. His feet and hands chained as he was suspended in mid-air, he recognised it from a sketch he caught Korra doing a year ago. He had not announced himself and when Korra heard a sudden noise, her eyes had lit up, fury building in them as she spun with the intent to defend herself. Fortunately for Kai, Asami was there, able to bring her back with an embrace and a few whispered words of comfort. He didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want visual confirmation. He could hear whispers.

"I _thought_ you said you had _control of him_!" someone growled, " _All_ of him!"

"I did, master! I don't know how the word managed to slip out!" a timid voice replied, "It was barely a word, everything will be fine!"

" _Barely a word?_ " the slithery voice of the spirit said, "If our little vessel can fight against intrusion, than the entire massacre is at risk. Hesitation of even the most marginal could result in the Avatar removing him before he makes a notable dent in the population!"

"We-I… Surely there is another way if the boy does not achieve-"

" _We_ ," the master said, "Are not getting involved in the deaths, if Kai does not achieve the desirable outcome, we will have to possess again. We can be linked to the deaths, that is why, if one of their own is responsible, there is no reason that we can't take that land-"

There were footsteps on the solid ground, a man cleared his throat, "Master, our spies tell us that the Avatar, her girlfriend, the male detective and the lavabender have left the temple to search for this one." He took a breath, "The spies are still currently seeking confirmation that none of the airbenders have left with them."

"Thank-you, Shau. It is vital that all the air nomads be there for the extraction." The voice of the apparent master said, there was a period of silence as two sets of footsteps left the room. The master spoke gently, his tone contrasted from only a few moments ago, "Bú Yi," he seemed to be hesitant, "I have not gotten a chance to discuss the terms of our agreement. I know you wanted the girl, but obviously circumstances prevented that…"

"It has only made me want that permanent tenure more." The spirits voice was the worst thing Kai had ever heard, until it clicked that they were talking about Jinora. _Jinora was supposed to be here?! They were aiming for her?!_ He felt sick at the thought of what could have happened if they had gotten her, what they could have done to them. He had never been more relieved for terrified at the realisation that they hadn't gotten her, _but they want her… I have to get out of here._ Kai let one of his eyes open slightly, his heart almost pained with the shock of seeing the spirit's face was less than a few inches from his own, its eyes were glowering into Kai's. He averted his gaze, squeezing his eyelids closed, hoping that if he ignored it, it-

Kai's eyes were opened by the possession, the pain circled him, he never though it could be worse than what it had always been, but it was. The spirit had a tiny cluster of antenna like spines on it forehead, Kai saw them quivering, and ceasing so when the spirit let Kai have his body back. _It… It is who has been doing this to me…_ "I don't think we have been officially introduced…" The spirit smiled, its teeth were horrible, sharp, "I am Bú Yi, spirit of disloyalty and betrayal. You are Kai, weakling and doomed lover." Kai didn't want to speak, he held the spirit's gape, the spirit grew tired of this. He flexed his control over him, not taking command of the young nomad's body, just allowing the pain to tear through him like wild fire. Kai threw his head bad and cried out against the pain, the spirit intensified the pain before ceasing.

"W-what do you want fr-from m-me?" he sobbed loudly, he was sure the pain was more intense with the spirit near, _if the spirit is the one possessing, why aren't I dead? Why can't I be dead?_

"We will start with the basics…" the master said, still on the ground. Kai assumed he was being held high from the ground, but he realised he was only approximately a foot or two. The man walked towards Kai, he had a strange tool in his hand. It was long and thin, one end had a large wooden ball, the other broken apart into three needle-like prongs. "What is the Avatar's weakness?"

"Wh-what?" Kai said, Bú Yi smiled, his antenna vibrated and Kai knew the pain was coming before he felt it. He thrashed and shouted, it did him no good.

"Let's try again." The master whispered condescendingly, this time, he put the three thin prongs against Kai's cheek, "What. Is. Her. _Weakness_?" on the final word, he had whipped the spines down his cheek, there was immediate throbbing. The weapon was so fine, that Kai didn't feel it cut his cheek, but the throbbing was growing increasingly more painful.

This went on for hours, it could have been days for all Kai knew.

Kai would be possessed, scratched and hit with the solid end of the weapon. He was covered in sweat, dust, blood and bruises, he just wanted to die. There were very short intervals where the master would be interrupted, Kai would let himself slip away and spend as long as he could wrapped in the arms of Jinora. Eating grapes on the balcony, kissing her in front of the fire, playing with Lefty and Pepper, letting her read to _him_ \- and suddenly they would be back. But Kai refused to talk about Korra, he would never do that to the one person who gave him a chance when the odds were stacked against him.

"Okay!" he cried, "I-I-…"

Kai had passed out, the master sighed, Bú Yi brought him back into consciousness. Kai groaned against the chains, _it could have been her they were doing this too…_ The only thought that kept him going was preventing them getting to her. But, there was only so much a human body could take. "Speak, Kai." The spirit smirked, "The sooner you speak, the sooner we can move onto the next question…"

Kai could feel tears filling his eyes as he thought of Korra, as he thought of Asami. How they supported each other through the darkness, and retrieved each other when they were lost, Kai sighed. "I was hoping that I wouldn't be the one… To have to tell you…" he sniffed, the master moved closer, so did Bú Yi.

"What is it?" they both whispered.

"Korra… Avatar Korra…" he took a deep breath, lifting his gaze to meet the masters, the tears spilt from his eyes, and he smiled, "Korra has no weakness. She only has strengths." Bú Yi snarled with annoyance and took over Kai, he thrashed and laughed, trying to fight the pain, _worth it,_ he thought. The master, however, didn't react to Kai, he even smiled slightly.

"What is it you want, Kai?" he said softly as Kai was back in control of himself, the master picked a strange pendant from the table and twirled it around in his fingers.

Kai was trying to catch his breath, he was sure that Bú Yi had winded him, it took him a while to answer, "I want to die."

"No you don't." the master said, "I am no idiot, Kai. I know that what you want is the young airbending master. You want Jinora." Kai scowled as her name passed through his lips, "We men are not that hard to understand, all you think about is whomever we currently had feelings for. Now, tell me the truth, what do you want? What do I have to do to make you more willing to help?"

"I will never help you!" he spat.

"Don't be so quick to say that." The master said, "I am willing to forgive you for wasting our time, and I want to make a deal with you…"

"You what?" both Kai and Bú Yi mumbled.

"I remember a little conversation you and the beautiful Jinora had, about doing _more_ together."

"Don't say her name." Kai growled, Bú Yi shocked him, he groaned.

"Go to her. Be with her, for an entire night, we promise we will not possess you, if you abide by a set of rules..." The master clicked his fingers and Bú Yi reluctantly spun himself into the gateway through Kai's eyes, the pain crashed over Kai as the master placed his thumb on the pendant. He made Kai watch Bú Yi, "We will, of course, be watching. The second you even whimper about where you have been, or what is happening, you will be brought back and whomever heard will be slain by your hands." Kai couldn't take his eyes off the spinning body of the spirit, he could see himself watching the spirit, and see that self watching, and so on. He noticed that the sounds echoing from Bú Yi were getting gradually softer, and the visual aspect was dimmer with each projection. It made sense to him, that he would see it brightly, and they would see it darker than if they were there with him. "We will, however, not ogle you and she, regardless of how you are with each other. Whether it be to make love, to kiss, or she reads to you."

"No." Kai snarled, _she is safe as long as I am here-_

"No?" the master smiled, "In that case, Bú Yi, now is your chance."

Kai flew like the blood had drained from his body at those words, _w-what…_

"The Avatar and her little group are gone, according to our spies, she will not see anyone, she wants to be alone. She is friendly to spirits, she won't expect you." The master smiled as he turned to leave, Bú Yi nodded at his words and began to drift from the room.

"N-no!" Kai yelled, "No, please! Let me see her!" he ignored his screams, Kai didn't know his name, but he knew his title. " _Master_!" the words were like acid, burning his mouth.

"Hmm?" the master said condescendingly, Kai knew that he had heard what he said, he just wanted the satisfaction of having him repeat it. "Did you say something, Kai?"

"Let me. I accept your deal, just, let me. Please, master." He whispered.

"I am sorry, Kai. But that ship has sailed…" the master said coldly, beginning to turn away again.

"Please!" Kai tried again, _the idea of Bú Yi touching her_ , "I will do anything."

"Excellent." He smiled.

Bú Yi rolled its eyes in annoyance, _how much longer do I have to be handle like this… I hope the old bastard remembers what I am capable of_.

…

Kai could see the temple, all he wanted to do was run through the halls and scream for help. He wanted to find Jinora, pull her in for an embrace, and never let go. He wanted Lin to capture him and beat sense into him, contain him long enough for the spirit to loss it's hold. He wanted to know how he broke its hold earlier, and how to do it again. He held his side as he hobbled towards the temple, he could see her room, a candle let a faint glow escape the window.

Kai's injured arm held his ribs, his good arm swirled in small circles, back and forth, from behind to in front. Suddenly, he blast all the strength he could muster through his palm and sent himself flying through the air. He knew it would hurt, but he slammed into a window sill two floors down from Jinora's room. It was past the normal curfew, and he knew the chance of being caught was small, but he was still on alert.

He pulled himself through the window and grunted as his back it the hard ground, he moved to a sitting position and fought through the pain of the impact. He regained what little strength he had started with and sighed, struggling to his feet, he moved towards the stairs that would take him to her. Each step was a fight, he was quiet as he stumbled past the other rooms of sleeping acolytes and nomads. After what felt like an hour, he reached her room, the candlelight glowed under the door. He sighed as he lifted his hand, his palm rested against the wood. His nails dragged down the grains, emitting a soft scratching sound.

Not a moment had passed before the door was ripped open. Kai felt his eyes adjusting to the dim light, she was beautiful, even more so than his reminiscants during torture. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open, he wanted to say something, but knew words came with a risk. He pressed his lips into a tight lip, _Jinora, I am sorry._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**_This was what happened when Kai was missing, the next chapter will pick off where the pair was left at the end of Chapter 7._ **

**_The next chapter is practically only Kai and Jinora._ **


	9. Content

**_9._ ** **_Content_ **

His head rested on the edge of the bath tub, the antiseptic agents in the water stung the cuts on his skin, but relief would quickly follow. Jinora walked around the tub, she perched herself on one of the thick, stone edges. She looked at Kai, his head back and body mostly submerged in water, there were scattered bubbles everywhere. Jinora did not realise Kai was nude, until some separated. She blushed lightly as she took in his whole body, his stomach and his strong legs. She had never seen an erection before, she blushed, she felt an indescribable need to be close to him, have him touch her.

Kai tried to gather the courage to talk, _they promised… They promised they would not take me over, so long as I didn't tell anyone anything. They would give us as much privacy as they could to say good-bye._ They didn't know he was saying good-bye to her, he planned to take care of himself, and his spirit, exterminate both. The words came out carefully, slowly, he tried to lift his head, "I miss you."

She lifted her eyes from his immersed torso and stared at him, he was watching her, even with his head leaning on the bath. She bit into her lip, she didn't want to cry. His lips moved again, Kai didn't make a noise, but Jinora read the words as if they had been spoken.

 _Join me_.

She thought about it for a moment, she had imagined their reunion from the minute she knew he was gone. It was all so clear to her, he would run to her and grab her, kiss her and they would work out whatever was going wrong together. She had a million different scenarios, but that was her most visited. When she had finally seen him, standing in her doorway, she was only angry, _why would he leave me? Why would he leave without a word?_ But right now, watching him silently pleading for forgiveness, or comfort, or contact, Jinora felt a lot of the anger evaporate. It wasn't like it was stored within her for a later moment, it was gone, into the atmosphere. She internally joked that it may come down with the next storm, but she knew that was all too likely. She sighed, standing and removing her robe, her pyjamas.

It felt wonderful to be free of them, the steam soaking into every part of her body, Kai hadn't removed his eyes from her own. Yet, something told Jinora that he was dying to let them wander. She sunk slowly into the water, the antiseptic did nothing to her skin, she did not need it. Though, the heat in the water felt as though it would burn her, she knew better, the contrast to the cool night air making the water temperature feel greater. She moved slowly towards him, keeping her eyes on his, reaching for the cloth she was using to clean him. She made small circles up his legs, the dirt and dried blood dissolving into the water to be filtered out by the systems. Though the tops of his legs and pelvic area were visibly clean, she still skipped his middle out of bashfulness and moved straight for above his stomach, cleaning across his chest and shoulders. She made sure his arm was out of the water, moving across his shoulder, before she moved to do his back. He sat up from the wall, moving out so Jinora could fit behind him, she made small circles over the lines of his back. The muscles were tight and knotted, she moved the cloth around and around.

She didn't expect it, but Kai suddenly leant back, his head resting against her shoulder. He sniffed twice and then Jinora realised he had tears rolling freely down his cheeks, she dropped the cloth and wrapped her arms around his chest. There were stillness between them, the water still thundering in the background, she didn't know what was causing him to become so upset, this was not like him. She wanted to comfort him, she wanted to make him happy, like he had for her in times formerly. She press her lips tenderly to the inside on his neck, there was a moment of calm before Kai reacted.

It was quick, their heads bumped in the moment that Kai spun himself around, she gasped in surprise and pain. She brought her hand up to her temple, and Kai was mirrored. He dropped his bandaged hand from his forehead and gripped the edge of the bath behind her head, he pushed his lips against hers roughly. She moved her hand to his cheek, the other resting in a clenched fist against his chest. Their lips moved together, heat building within them both. His tongue was warm and strong, opening her mouth and pushing inside. He pulled back from the kiss and traced his fingers across her lips, trailing down her neck and outlining of her breasts, still hidden beneath the water.

Kai still keep his eyes on hers.

She watched as him as he took in her body with his hands, everything about her was petite, he thought she was incredible.

 _Powerful_ , he thought was a better word.

He didn't want to speak and risk saying something that may ruin this moment, their moment in time. He lifted his eyes to hers, the emerald and auburn clashing, the warmth and the cool. He moved back to her lips, kissing her softly to start again, his whole being was excited, not only by the closeness of their bodies, but for the warmth that surrounded him, how safe he felt here.

He hadn't initially realised the tears had begun to fall free down his cheek, slipping under his chin and dropping into the water.

He knew now.

Jinora wiped the tears with her thumb, she left a clean smudge beneath his eye, where she had yet to clean. She pulled back from him, holding his face in her hands, she smiled softly as she started to wash the dirt from his face. Dipping her hands into the water and wiping them gently across his face, he watched as her hands pulled away covered in dirt and returned clean. Each time her hands took less and less dirt, cleaning his skin.

He thought back to their first kiss, when he wanted to keep her, to when he left the dark smudge on pure skin. Her fingers washing away what made him feel so shadowy and untrustworthy, he wanted to come our as pure as she was on the other side of this moment, still their moment.

His mind tried to block out possibility of possession, the singular candle, near the door flickered at the base of the wick. He had managed to keep his eyes away from her body, _if I don't see anything, they can't,_ he closed his eyes _._ He needed this moment, and took as many precautions as he could. He was in darkness, but she was there, holding him to everything, keeping him safe.

The sound of the tap was still roaring, that would be enough cover for exchanging of signs or whispers. He just wanted his alone time with her, before he was made to leave, he needed to have her, she needed to have him. Their bodies were slick and hot from the scorching water, his uninjured hand explored her body beneath the sweltering surface. Her breasts were small and round, his thumb glided over her areola before trailing down to her hips.

Jinora knew what was going to happen between them, she knew that she should stop it. The look of defeat she had witnessed, the pain he was going through, how he had never looked so overthrown in all the time she had known him, she should stop it.

But she couldn't bring herself to let him leave her, she craved his touch to the point where she ached. She never knew of this part of a physical romance, the literal aching to be held and loved. She could tell he had the essence of anxiety, like he needed to do something, a schedule to keep. His lips crushed down on hers, there was pain in the kiss and Jinora fought against his fear for this time to end. She wanted him to know that she would fight with him, for him, against whatever was causing him grief.

Their legs were tangled under the water, Jinora managed to free hers, she lifted one, hooking it over his hip. He responded by moving his body to hers, his pelvis pushed against hers, their lips never breaking apart. She could feel his erection against her lower abdomen, her stomach growled with a strange emotion she couldn't place. There was a mixture of desperation, anticipation and arousal, it excited her, she could tell it had the same effect on him. He groaned against her lips as she reached between them, she was acting on instinct, she held his width in her hand. She tried not to think about the size, there was no room for nerves at a time like this. She knew where everything went, she had learnt from a talk with her mother, aunt and grandmother, she knew what to do. She held him firmly, careful not to hurt him too much, she had to admit, she did not feel like being gentle. She rested the head of his erection against herself, she knew what to do, but not _exactly_ where to go. It felt right, she lifted her hand and gripped his hair, she waited.

He broke their kiss, both panting loudly, he was aware how their bodies were. He was definitely aware where his erection was placed, he wanted to be careful, and to not hurt her, but he knew that it was a hopeless desire. His eyes were squeezed closed, the fingers of his bandaged hand digging into the bath's walls. His free hand wrapped under her waist, holding her to him.

He moved his head and kissed the dimple between her lips and her chin, and Jinora's heart flared into a string of hammering beats, his own mimicking, their chests together, her eyes fluttered closed.

He pushed his hips to hers, her body seemed to reject any intrusion. She breathed deeply, feeling her body beginning to accept. There was a moment of resistance before her body gave into his, she cried out in pain, gasping in surprise. Kai kissed her lips, her chin, her cheeks, her neck. Her hand tightened in his hair as he still pushed into her, he prayed that she would feel relief, he slowly began to withdraw from her, he groaned against her neck. He paused, resting his forehead against hers, he slowly opened his eyes, trying to see what she wanted him to do. He only saw her, her large eyes, still managing to hold love and kindness for him that he didn't deserve. The dimness around them was thick with exhilaration, he could see her smile timidly. One of her hands caressed his cheek, she could feel the fresh tears there, she leaned her body up slightly. She wanted him to continue, she moved her hands to his hips, she guided him. He closed his eyes again, she mirrored.

He didn't want to let himself become a selfish lover, he listened to her sighs as they arose, if they were sighs of pleasure, he would try and repeat what he did. He didn't want to think of the pleasure that was raking over his body in droves, he didn't want to be the only one feeling this way. Jinora's body twitched sightly, still experiencing discomfort, she bit into his shoulder. He gasped, tightening his arm around her waist, still thrusting into her gently. Kai almost called out in happiness when she seemed to let her body relax, finally able to unwind in the hot water. Feeling her move her body with his, he let the pleasure seep over him.

Jinora let the pain run its course, she knew that no two experiences were the same, the hot water soothing and numbing her exterior body. When the worst of the pain seemed to leach away she began to move her body with his, the water swirled around them. He moved his hips faster into her, she tilted her head back, resting it on the wall of the bath. Kai kissed down her neck, his body felt as though it was pulsating with pleasure. She was breathing deeply, her body reacting to his motions, his sighs. She wasn't sure what caused it to begin, but as he thrust carefully into her again, her body kick-started. Suddenly each movement was overly sensitive, each shift of his body made her sigh loudly. His own self responded to her, whispering her name as he struggled to keep at a consistent pace. Her back arched as she felt herself quiver, still held firmly against his body, she felt herself become light. She couldn't describe it, she didn't want too. It coursed through her body, she started to moan louder, Kai's lips silenced hers. Her fingers clawed at his shoulder blades, he was breathing raggedly.

He held her tighter as he felt her body convulse against him, her orgasm rolled over her.

She had never experienced this before, it was nothing like the character in her book had described. Kai's touch was everything, she couldn't imagine herself without it, he felt the same about her. He slowed his pace as his own climax took over him, she moaned his name gently, the way she felt around him, against him, he groaned against her lips as he released himself inside her. He didn't want to leave, he didn't want to die, he had all but forgotten the spirit within him.

They were still, Kai opened his eyes as he settled next to Jinora, she gasped, "Your arm!" the stitches must have torn, he didn't notice. He looked at her, watching her eyes as she moved to tend to his arm, she was talking to him softly, asking him about pain he assumed. He smiled lightly at her, the candlelight was dimmer than before, she stopped talking and watched his lips, the smile was genuine, it was Kai.

The smile was all Kai.

"I love you." He whispered.

They had said it before, usually prior to a mission, or when they would be apart for a long period of time. This time, the words settled over the moment in such a way that Jinora felt her eyes begin to tear slightly, she reached forward and cupped his cheek, Kai held her hand there. "I love you too," she murmured, "And I don't think anything will change that." She returned to tending to his arm, she needed more supplies from the cupboard. She stepped out of the bath, trying to cover herself, not wanting Kai to see her from a possibly bad angle. He wasn't looking at her, but he was still smiling lightly, Jinora assumed he was trying to be polite by not staring directly at her. She quickly collected her outer robe and wrapped it around her shoulders, she couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt different. She felt more empowered with the gained knowledge that her body could do something like that, something that was usually so taboo, felt so natural. She felt a slight throbbing within herself, but other than that, she felt a hundred feet tall.

She rummaged through the small cupboard, secretly thanking Kya for practically forcing Tenzin to put one in every bathing room. She reached for a new bandage, as she lifted it, a small bag fell forwards spilling sand-like grains over the cupboards shelf. She hurried to clean it up, she read the bag quickly, _sedative._ She blinked twice at the writing, as if someone had ignited a candle, all the feelings of doubt crashed over her. _Where did he go? What is happening to him?_ Jinora was no idiot, she knew _something_ was effecting Kai, and that the bruises and scratches she saw were too well placed.

_The way he acted in the days leading to his disappearance, how he didn't want me to talk about personal stuff… Running away during our moment by the fire…_

She understood in a moment, _someone is using him… The energy, it is him! He is possessed! The glow… The glow when we were at the mountain! It was a spirit taking over him!_

It didn't make sense, possession by a spirit resulted in serious injury or death. Kai seemed physically fine apart from the scratches and Suyin's cut, but she couldn't believe how everything else fell into place. Her cheeks felt hot, scorching, her hands shook slightly. She couldn't believe it had taken this long, _some spiritual master,_ a part of her mind cussed herself. The rest of her mind came to the conclusion that he would be taken again, she needed to keep him here, away from harm. She looked at the small bag again, the instructions on it were clear, _add to water, drink approx. half a cup. Effects last four hours minimum._ She looked towards the basin, there was a decorative cup with a picture of a bison on it. She moved to get it, catching a small amount of cool water in it from the fountain of cool water balancing the hot in the bath. Kai still had his eyes closed, she poured a decent amount of the grains in, constantly checking over her shoulder. She mixed it quickly, the grains disappeared in the water, she fought against the feelings of guilt.

She turned back towards him, trying to keep an expressionless face. He opened his eyes as she sat near him, while still outside the bath, she held the cup to him, the medical supplies in her other hand, "Here," she smiled, "This is for the heat… Dehydration can make you sicker." Kai took the cup and tried to smile, the pain from his arm was back with limited distraction. He grimaced as Jinora began to unravel the bandage again, he drank deeply, the cool water washing through his mouth and down his throat.

It didn't take long before Kai's body started to become heavy, the last thing he felt was Jinora's warm lips, press softly to his.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	10. Trapped

**_10._ ** **_Trapped_ **

Bú Yi was furious, the master was out of his mind, "HOW COULD WE LOSE CONTACT?!" it didn't take long for them to realise that Jinora had drugged Kai, they had underestimated her. "GET HIM BACK!" the master yelled, Bú Yi couldn't do a single thing to bring Kai around, he had control of Kai's physical self, but not anything that _entered_ his physical self.

"Th-there is nothing we can do, master!" one of the men said, furiously pressing his thumb against the pendent, "We have to wait until he wakes u-"

"Don't give me your wretched excuses!" he shouted, Bú Yi rolled its eyes.

"This is _your_ fault…" it snarled, circling the master, "What gave you the ridiculous notion to allow him to revisit that girl? What were you hoping to accomplish?!"

"With the Avatar away, and the boy within the walls, we could have murdered half the population while they slept!" he said, turning on the spirit, "We could have been unstoppable!" the master calmed himself, breathing deeply, "The second he comes around, _get. On. It_."

"I will." Bú Yi snarled, waiting for Kai's self to become venerable. _They will not make it out of this together._

...

"Korra is on her way? Are you _positive_?" Tenzin asked, pacing quickly.

"Yes," Jinora said, she said, she was sitting next to Kai's body, he was laid to the medical bed. Kya had healed his cuts and tended to his bruises, an ice pack rested on his forehead, his breathing quick and shallow, "I spoke to her myself!"

"Jinora, I am not doubting you, but are you sure it is possession?" Suyin asked, standing beside Kya next to the bed.

"Yes, it all makes sense." Jinora said, "Why he ran, why he attacked you guys, why he became so nervous."

"Why he _knew_ those men…" Lin said, realisation striking her.

"Why he was doing that crazy blinking thing to you! The one you told me about at the table that day, he was trying to communicate!" Bumi said loudly, glancing between Lin and Jinora.

"Doesn't possession kill a human?" Suyin asked, trying to wrap her head around the whole situation.

"Obviously not, maybe there was something special about the spirit…" Kya said, there was a knock on the door. Opal stood behind Ikki as she entered, she plopped herself down beside her sister, rubbing her shoulder lightly.

"Meelo is still with some others tracing Kai's trails, but it is too dark to get any real idea where he came from. Everyone else is down in the chambers entertaining each other, only airbenders can get in there." She said, her sugar-glider squeaked in confirmation before hiding under the collar of her glider suit. "What do you think will happen when he comes around?" she said after a moment of silence.

"His bruises and cuts have similar patterns to torture techniques." Bumi said, "Human torture techniques, we came around some prisoners one year in the desert of the western Earth Kingdom, they had alike wounds to Kai. It took a lot to get them out of there alive!"

"Can spirits harm humans like that?" Opal asked.

"Bumi is right, this look like they were inflicted by a human." Tenzin said softly.

"So, a human could be controlling the spirit in him?" Ikki said, shocked and afraid for Kai, Jinora's eyes widened at the thought.

"There is no human alive that can _control_ spirits!" Tenzin said abruptly, "Even Korra cannot control them, influence perhaps… But not control."

"Maybe, a spirit is doing a human's bidding..." Lin said, she was facing away from the group, staring out the window.

"Who would hurt Kai? He is an airbender and has done countless good deeds around the world!" Pema said.

Opal stepped in from the doorway, "Who would want to harm the airbenders?"

"There was Zaheer…" Pema whispered, "And Amon."

"Impossible!" Lin snapped, turning back from the window, "He is locked up, his team dead, no one has visited him in six years, except Korra. And no one has seen, or heard of Amon in almost a decade!" _they found pieces of their escape boat on the beach south of the harbour, that was a few months after they fled, there is no way they are alive…_ Lin thought the last part, it was privileged information, _the explosive singes on the metal were too strong to have survived.._.

"Another branch of the Red Lotus?" Bumi said, Lin waved her hand, dismissing the possibility. Bumi pursed his lips, moving to stand beside Lin, he was looking out the window. She turned back and gazed over the mountains with him, they both admired the hills, the rich soil, grassy plains and the thick forest of trees. It hit Bumi first, part of a speech that he was present for with Tenzin. An old man arguing that the use of the Northern Temples lands were best suited for mining, Tenzin and Korra slicing his request down. He remember the man becoming furious with accusations of the Avatar being bias towards her teacher and friend, and against the greater good. He recalled Lin stepping in and telling him that the decision was made, he yelled threats and stated that the world was better off with only one family of air nomads, _who would want to harm the air benders?_ He inhaled as it all came together, dragging the action out with an expression of realisation, he pointed towards the mountains. "The mining man!"

"What?" almost everyone present said, confused for a moment.

"Who would want to harm us air benders? Mr. _The-World-Is-Better-Off-With-Only-One-Family-Of-Nomads_!" Bumi said raising his arms.

"That mean man that was in the city?" Ikki asked, after hearing everyone ranting about it when they had arrived home from the meeting. She was only young, but the memory of her father repeating the threats, for the sake of informing Pema what had happened, made her have nightmares for weeks.

She stood up and took a step towards her uncle, leaving Jinora next to Kai.

No one saw his hand twitch.

"Of course!" Lin said suddenly, "Mewua Wentai! The bloke that wanted to mine the land surrounding the Northern Temple!" she grabbed the tops of Bumi's shoulders, "Nice catch, Commander."

"I learnt from the best, Chief." He winked, Kya and Tenzin raised an eyebrow and glanced at each other.

They stood there smiling at each other for a moment, Suyin cleared her throat. "Yeah, this is romantic and all, but why would they possess _Ka_ -"

There was a flash, Kai flew across the room, he slammed Jinora against the wall, his hand under her chin, pressing against her throat. Pema screamed in horror and Lin, Bumi, Kya and Tenzin dived for Kai. Time slowed for Jinora, her eyes were wide, there was a faint glowing behind Kai's, visible as they shifted quickly. Jinora clawed at his hand, something behind his eyes seemed to snap, he groaned loudly.

Inside his mind, Kai was fighting with all he had, he was yelling and crying, focusing all he could manage on the spirit, there was a feeling like something had slapped the inside of his mind. It was unpleasant, but he felt the spirit release him, just for a moment.

He had control over himself for a moment, but it was enough.

Suyin let loose her cables and threw them towards him. They snaked around his arms and ripped him from Jinora, he let himself go, he groaned loudly, "Jinor-sorry." He collapsed, letting the unfriendly darkness take him.

…

 _Oh, for fuck's sake…_ Kai was sure that he wouldn't have to face this darkness again, he hadn't realised what Jinora had done to him, all he knew was that as soon as Bú Yi could sense his consciousness, he would strike. He huffed against the pulsating pain, guilt circled him at the suddenly impact of what his body had just done to Jinora, he had felt the warmth of her skin under his hands as his body tried to kill her. _But why?_ Kai asked himself, _if Bú Yi wanted her, why would he try and get me to kill her?_ He thanked the sun, the stars and Yue that something had stopped him.

The story of Yue was one of his favourites, Jinora had told him the story a hundred times, yet he still pretended that he had never heard it, just for him to hear her say it again. He wished that he could one day be that selfless and brave. To him, Yue was every bit a part of Aang's Team Avatar as Councilman Sokka, Lord Zuko, Chief Healer Katara, Warrior Suki and Police Chief Toph. He wished there was a way he could protect his friends, his nation.

_His family._

_Maybe there is a way…_ He thought of the craft house, one of his favourite places in the temple. It was placed right on the top of one of the mountainous plateaus, nestled under the protection of two large statues of airbending legends that Kai hadn't been paying attention to when Tenzin was teaching their identities to him. Across the large, bare courtyard was a direct drop, hundreds of feet to the rocky creek below. It was where the air nomads would test their gliders after construction. It was also where they made saddles, pottery and many other things. They also kept knives, axes, wires and ropes _._ _I just need to get there._

He didn't want to rely on the fact that when he was at the point of nearly severely harming another person, he could just control himself. He didn't want to risk the lives of others on something he had barely done twice.

_I just need to get there…_

…

Kya fussed over Jinora, washing cool water over her neck and the back of her head. "So, tell me what you saw." Kya said softly, Jinora sighed.

"It was like, like when a cat walks towards a candle. When their eyes shift, the light reflects, that was what his eyes looked like." She took another breath, "It must be horrible."

"What must be?" Kya said, she wanted to keep Jinora talking, making sure her speech wasn't slurred.

"Having been alone for all that time, not being able to ask for help. I should've felt the shift in his energy and known that something terrible was happening to him. I failed him."

"Jinora, you didn-"

"I did! Don't tell be that I couldn't have helped, because I could have!" she yelled, standing up quickly, her head ached but she ignored it, "I am a spiritual master! And I couldn't even sense that my boyfriend had a hostile spirit in him! He still fucking has!" Kya had never heard Jinora utter a single cuss word, she watched as Jinora knocked her chair over and throw something against the wall. "He is alone in this, all alone! And all I want is for us to be _together_ , to be safe."

"Well, I guess you definitely aren't concussed." Kya smiled, Jinora sat on the floor, her head in her hands and ignore her aunt's attempt at a joke. Kya waited a moment before speaking, "Jinora, is there anything else you want me to know."

Jinora peaked up from her place on the floor, she felt blush heat her cheeks, "Y-yes." She sniffed, wiping her eyes to stop the tears from flowing, "We had sex." She whispered.

"I assumed." Kya smiled, she walked across the room and pulled out a jar of herbs. She brewed a tea, and sat with Jinora as she sipped the disgusting liquid. "This'll prevent pregnancy for this time, but you should come to me later on and we can work out something for you to take to prevent this in the future, at least until you are older." She smiled, Jinora nodded and finished the cup. "He loves you Jinora, and he knows that if you could have, you would have helped." Jinora sniffed and nodded again.

They heard footsteps rushing towards, neither looked up as they seemed to run past the room before backtracking and catching themselves on the doorframe.

"Kya," there was a voice at the door, it was Bumi, "Kai is awake."

…

Kai was restrained, his wrists tied to the medical bed. He kept his eyes on his knees, he kept his tears back, it was one thing to cry before Jinora, another to cry before all others. It was when he heard Bumi return with two people that he peeked up from under his dark, messy hair and made eye contact with her. "Jinora!" He couldn't control himself as the tears burst from his eyes, she ran forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, practically diving onto him. She sniffed against his neck, he buried his face in her hair, "Jin-ora, I am so-sor-sorry." His sniffed, sobs breaking his words apart.

"I should have been there for you." She cried against him, holding him tight. Tenzin stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Step away from him." He said softly, "Kai cannot control himself."

"Dad-"

"He's right." Kai mumbled, "I-I will be okay."

"I don't want to leave you." She still held him, whispering into his neck.

"Then don't." He whispered, "Just don't stand too close."

Jinora pulled back, tracing her hand from his jawline, across to his lips. He leant forward slowly, the restrains pulled, he pressed his lips to the dimple between her chin and lower lip, she smiled softly. "We will make it out of this together." She murmured.

"Should, err, we leave the room for a second?" Bumi whispered to Tenzin and Lin, they rolled their eyes in synchrony and a few others chuckled. Jinora got off from the bed and stood beside him, there were many questions thrown at him. He did not know who the man that threatened the Air Nation was, but when Kai described him, it didn't match their own portrayal. "Anyone can grow a beard in a few years!" Lin said, waving her hand dismissively, "Even I could."

"Please don't." Bumi winked.

"What about the spirit?" Tenzin pushed, "Could you see a spirit?"

"Yes." Kai said, growing anger, "It called itself Bú Yi. It-"

Kai's body froze before convulsing violently, Kya moved quickly, but Kai was back in moments. His eyes were strained, his mouth set in a snarl, he thrashed against the restraints, thrusting his body towards Jinora.

"He is possessed, get back!" Lin said, dragging Bumi, and Suyin back as they were closest to her. Everyone moved back, Kai's body collapsed onto the bed and twitched, before bursting back into the sitting position. Jinora's eyes were wide, she felt the spirit flattering and twitching inside him. The cables were cutting into his wrists and his voice came out grainy and vicious. "Release Kai," it groaned, his eyes were reflecting the yellow-green shine, just like Jinora had seen, "Let him free, and no one will be har-r-rm-" Kai shook.

It hit Lin and Jinora almost instantly, _he is fighting it._ Jinora realised the glow was similar to the moment the spirit had first collided with him, it had stayed dormant whilst within. Now that Kai was fighting to overcome it, it was being forced out, the glow would get stronger the more he gained power over it. Lin had noticed as the words became hard to understand, she swiped her hands through the air and released Kai from the cables. He burst from the room, running into the wall beyond the doorframe, in the hall. "LIN?! WHAT ARE YO-"

"He is fighting it!" She yelled, knocking Tenzin back from pursuing, "He is fighting the possession!" Kai's body was clawing the wall, he twitched once more before standing straight, he turned on the group, all watching. His eyes were still reflecting light, his wrists her cut and he had a fresh scrape under his eye from colliding with the wall. His head jerked, the glowing faded slightly, he took another step. Suyin and Lin readied their cables, Kya let water engulf her hands and Tenzin and Bumi took defensive stances. The glowing increased slightly as Kai stumbled back, gripping his hair and groaning. He looked up and ran down the hall, heading for the window, he dived through it.

…

He knew that Bú Yi would save him before her hit the ground, there was no way that he would let Kai die yet. Kai saw the ground approaching, the air whipping his hair around his face, he grunted as his hands were thrown out before him, the gust of air stopping him from smashing into the solid ground. He still manage to hit the earth with a considerable amount of force, the air was knocked from his body as he landed on the ground. He barely managed to get to his feet before Bú Yi took him over again, the pain was intense and concentrated, _they must be near._ His body was trying to run towards the southern mountains, the craft house was to the west of the temple. He cried out against the intrusion and seemed to break it, he couldn't believe his luck, he ran as quickly as he could towards the west. Each step Kai was sure would be his last one of his own will, Bú Yi would never let him run free.

At least not until he had Jinora.

Kai stumbled up the stairs, he fell to the solid ground as he reached the plateau that held the craft house. He scrambled to his feet and burst through the doors, using his shoulder to break through the old, wooden doors. He half closed his eyes, trying to blind Bú Yi and whoever else was watching. He felt for tools in the dimness, his fingers ghosting over blades and sandpaper, leather and fabrics, feathers and rope. He found what he was looking for as his finger was sliced, it was the finest blade that the craft house had to offer, it made the best incisions and carved through leather like it was air. He held it lightly in his grip as he ran for the damaged door, he almost didn't see the spirit waiting for him.

_Bú Yi._

"Going somewhere, Kaiiiii?" it smirked.

Kai growled and swiped, the spirit curled away easily, Kai's blade hitting nothing. He wasn't even sure if stabbing Bú Yi would even harm it, he hoped it would. He swiped again, this time Bú Yi shocked him, Kai cried out and fell to the ground. He hadn't realised that he landed on the blade until he felt the blood cooling against his external skin, he groaned as he pulled it from his side. Bú Yi made a noise that Kai could only assume was its demented version of a laugh. "Things could have been simpler…" it said, it flew at Kai, passing through his body. The pain was indescribable, he called out. His body was thrown a few metres by the force of Bú Yi's intrusion, he tried to roll onto his stomach, to push himself up. "All you had to do was fulfil the master's wishes." He threw himself through Kai's torso, knocking him onto his back.

Kai's breathing was croaky and exhausted, "W-why?"

The spirit froze, "What?"

"W-why-" Kai tried to breath, there was a moment when he though he had gone unconscious, "Why are you doing this?" he said to the darkness. His eyes were opened by external control, Bú Yi had never look more terrifying.

"For fun, and for possession." He sneered, Kai didn't see it coming, but there was a blast of wind and a flurry of attacks from over his head. Bú Yi looked towards the attacks, his eyebrow lowering angrily.

"Leave. My. _Partner_. ALONE!" Opal yelled, he leapt into the arm, twisting her body and swinging her leg with a precise round-kick, the burst of air blasted Bú Yi through the surface of the ground. Opal ran to Kai, dropping to her knees and hoisting his arm over her shoulder, "Kai, come-"

"Opal, get out of here!" Kai tried to yell, but Bú Yi got to her first. She dropped to the ground, Kai fell beside her. Her eyes were wide and her body twitched slightly, Kai reached for her, her eyes closed as Bú Yi left her, "Opal!" Kai gasped, he gripped her wrist, he almost died with relief when he felt a heartbeat. _He just needed to knock her out…_ This time he succeeded in getting to his feet, he stumbled backwards towards the cliff.

He was swiping the knife before him, keeping an eye on Opal, waiting for her to move. He was fast approaching the edge of the cliff, Bú Yi was taunting him. There were small materialisations of the spirit and Kai would stab at them, " _SHOW YOUR-RSELF!_ " he almost screamed, his voice fractured on the last word.

Suddenly, there it was.

Bú Yi hovering right before him, less than a metre, "Here I am, take your _stab_."

Kai screamed as he plunged the knife into Bú Yi, the knife felt as though it had successfully buried itself into flesh.

Kai smiled furiously, Bú Yi was expressionless, for a moment, Kai thought he had won.

It was when he felt warmth spread over his fingers that he knew something was astray, Bú Yi's smiled returned as it let itself evaporate into the air, its laugh echoed.

Jinora's eyes were wide, her mouth was open slightly, her hands wrapped around the blade that was buried beneath her sternum. Kai's eyes stung, his mouth opened, he could hear the screams and calls of people he knew. Tenzin, Bumi, Suyin, Lin, Kya, Bolin, Mako, Asami and Korra. There was the tiniest dribble of blood that came from the corner of Jinora's mouth, it ran down her chin, momentarily pooling in the dimple below her lip, before it dropped like a stone onto Kai's hand. He opened his mouth, to speak, "N-no." he mumbled, he couldn't think straight.

" _Yes_." Bú Yi whispered, disappearing back to the master.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	11. Insight

**_11._ ** **_Insight_ **

He had never felt more alone.

Sitting, strapped again, to the wall. He had begged Suyin and Lin to do it, to keep him away from everyone. Asami and Mako sat with him, they would peek at him from the corner of their eyes every few moments. Wing and Wei stood across from him, both had been oblivious to the entire ordeal with Kai, using their holiday time to explore the game chambers throughout the temple. Huan was keeping the multitudes of the air bender children and various others distracted with an art class in another part of the temple. Bolin had a stare that Kai thought would burn through his forehead, he loved Kai, but he loved Opal too. No one knew that Bú Yi got Opal, they all thought it was Kai. He didn't want to speak, he couldn't tell if he was still possessed, he was sure he was.

He had never been in more emotional or mental pain.

He wondered how Opal had found him, she had ditched the others and pursued Kai alone. _Why did she do that? How did she know?_ He vaguely remembered them talking about their favourite places in and around the temple, Kai thought he must have spoken about crafts. He let out an inaudible sigh of sadness, Bolin's eyes tightened, Kai had never seen him like this.

He didn't blame him.

His fingers her sticky with Jinora's blood, and he was sure he would vomit at any moment. Korra and Kya were behind the doors with Jinora and Opal, they were trying their hardest. Lin could see Kai's internal struggle to place events, she stood before him and spoke softly, "When we arrived, we saw Opal on the ground." Kai looked up from under his matted hair, his vision being interfered with forming tears, "She said she knew where you were and left without telling us, she was too quick. When we found you, she was on the ground, you were swiping at air." Kai looked down briefly, before reconnecting with her steely gaze. "Jinora ran for you, you were getting close to the brink of the plateau. She almost had you, she called out your name, and your thrust the blade into her."

That was it for Kai, Lin released him from the wall as he vomited, he fell to his knees. His arms almost giving out under him, everyone watched him as he tried to recover himself. "Were you possessed when you attacked Opal?" Lin said loudly, Kai wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"N-no-"

"Were you possessed when you stabbed Jinora?" Lin growled.

"You attacked Opal without possession?!" Wei yelled, almost over the top of his aunt, Wing held his arms as his brother thrust himself towards Kai.

"No! I wasn't possessed-"

"You harmed them by your own free will?!" Bolin was shocked, pushing himself from the wall and standing over Kai.

"No-" Kai tried again.

"Why did you choose to harm them?" Lin asked curtly.

"I didn-"

"Why are you trying against your own nation?!" Mako barked.

"WILL YOU LET HIM FINISH A FUCKING SENTENCE?!" Asami suddenly yelled, "He has tried to explain himself multiple times and you all keep cutting him off!"

"You are taking his side? He could have just killed two of your friends!" Wei yelled.

"Let. Him. _Finish_." She growled, her jaw was set stubbornly, anyone who was looking at her knew it was a habit she must have picked up from Korra. Everyone was silence for a while, glancing at each other and then all turning to Lin.

"Speak, kid." Lin said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kai drew a shaky breath, he wasn't sure if he would be sick again, he tested himself, "I-" he sighed again, he felt like he would be okay, "I wasn't possessed, because Bú Yi attacked Opal, I tried to harm him, and when he appeared in front of me, I thought I stabbed him, no-not Jin-Jinor-" he was violently sick again. The vomiting had forced the tears from his eyes, he tried to look at Asami, the only person who seemed to care for him at this time, "I thought I got it, it tricked me."

Asami spoke softly, "You weren't trying to hurt anyone?"

"Never." He whispered, "I thought sacrificing myself, would save everyone else." He dug his nails into the stones on the floor, "I just wanted to keep everyone safe." _Like Yue._

"Well, you failed at that," Lin said harshly, no one heard the door open, "We'll just have to wait unt-"

"Kai!" Opal's voice cut through the room, having just burst from behind the closed doors, she dropped to her knees and held her partner. He was so relieved she was okay, his arms hesitantly closed around her, "I tried to scream! I-I-" she started sobbing against his shoulder, "I saw the spirit form as Jinora ran towards you. I c-couldn't speak, I sa-saw the whol-whole thing."

"Jin-nora?" he managed to get out, he couldn't explain the emotions that crashed over him, _someone is still here for me._

"I d-don't kno-ow." She pulled back, holding him at arm's length. "The p-pain? You have been end-enduring that for how lo-long?" she said, the tears were still rolling down her cheeks. Kai avoided her gaze, she bit into her lip, "There w-was nothing I-I have ever felt like i-it. I thought I had been b-burnt, o-or stabbed. You have been like t-this for days? W-weeks?" Kai still didn't answer her, "We will get them, Kai." She finally whispered, taking a deep breath to steady her shaking voice, "They will pay."

"You saw the spirit?" Suyin asked softly, watching the two interact. She had been in with Opal and Jinora as Kya and Korra worked over them, she left the room to Tenzin, Ikki and Pema. Not wanting to be hanging around while everyone needed to be focusing on Jinora.

"Yes." Opal said, "It was messing with Kai, forcing him towards the cliff!" everyone looked between themselves, "It-it was huge! And ugly! How could you have not seen it?"

Everyone was silent, Kai was confused, _Opal saw it. She knows what it looks like, but she didn't see it attack me?_ "When did you first see it?" he whispered.

"After the pain, when it left my body." She mumbled, the memory was like a scar now.

"Y-you couldn't see it attacking me before?" he said softly. Opal was confused by Kai's analysis on her visual contact with Bú Yi, she thought hard. She remembered seeing Kai's body being thrown across the ground by an invisible force. She remembered the pain that caused her to drop to the ground as she tried to lift Kai, the unfriendly blackness and abruptly being bought back as a strange creature emerged from her chest.

"It was like, it opened my eyes to its own existence." She mumbled back.

Kai understood, "You… _You can only see it if it has possessed you_."

…

Jinora sighed, feeling her body twitching slightly. She didn't recall much of what had happened, but she remembered rushing forward as a spirit materialized in front of him, she immediately knew who it was. Then there was black and all went cold for a long time, she began to hear voices, frantically telling her not to die, _is that what I am doing? Dying? My poor parents, and what about Kai?! I hope they are all okay!_ She was beginning to upset herself, she took a deep breath, any spirits picking up on her energy would be alarming anyone in the physical world. She thought of her loved ones.

The voices became clearer, and the memories came back to her piece by piece. She remembered the pain in her lower chest, the warmth of her blood, and the coolness of his fingers. She waited for the face to form in her mind, she felt light enter her eyes as they fluttered open, the pain was much worse now and the realisation crashed into her like a bucket of water. "KAI?!" she screamed as she thrust herself into a sitting position, she gasped as she threw her hand over her sternum, putting pressure on the severe pain.

"JINORA?!" came his voice from behind the doors.

She tried to push herself from the table, but Korra and Tenzin held her tightly, Kya still manipulating the water around her hands. "Jinora, sweetie, you can't go out there yet." Kya said gently.

"I have to see him!" she yelled, knocking her aunt's hands, the glowing water fell to the floor, "Kai?!"

She heard something land against the outside of the door, "Jinora! I am sorry! Forgive me, please!"

"Are you okay?!" she yelled, still fighting against her father and Korra as they pushed her back down onto the table to allow Kya to finish healing her, "Please say you are okay!"

From the other side of the door, Kai had his forehead pressed to the solid wood, and his palm against the grain, "I-I am fine. It-it is still in m-me, Jinora." He sniffed as he lowered to his knees, still leaving his head and hand on the door. There was no answer, Kai began to become restless, "Jin-Jinora?" still no answer, "JINORA?! Answer me please!" stood and begin shaking the door knob, "Jinora! I am sorry! Don't go!" Lin and Bumi stepped forward and grabbed his arms, pulling him from the door, "Let me go! Jin-"

"She is fine, Kai!" Kya yelled through the door, "I needed to calm her so I can finish healing her, she will be fine!"

"Tenzin," Kai cried out, "I am sorry! I don't want to harm the airbenders! I love her! I am sor-sorry."

"Hold still, Kai." Bumi said softly, as he placed pressure on the back of his neck, Kai's body slumped as he made him fall unconscious, Lin caught him, "Let's get him cleaned up… Come on, Bolin, help me."

…

Korra concentrated on the sound of the winds, the sounds of the distant storms and the sound of Asami's breathing. She was meditating, and with a dark spirit around, nobody wanted her to be left alone. She had left Kya to Jinora once they agreed that she would be perfectly fine, they were thankful the knife was so fine. It left only the tiniest scar that Kya decided to spend more time on, as well as Jinora's internally injuries. Korra would have been willing to help with that too, but the healers knew that too many hands can create distractions and mistakes.

She had decided that if anyone could tell them more about who or what they are up against, it would be the spirits. Korra sighed as she opened her eyes to the spirit world, the bright purple flowers in the meadow and the blue and yellow sky was clear. Almost immediately, there were hundreds of spirits surrounding her with excitement. She smiled and greeted them all, listening to them bicker and chat about what had happened since they were last visited by Korra and her girlfriend. "It is wonderful to see you all." Korra smiled hesitantly, not wanting the spirits to think she wasn't interested in their stories.

"Is there something on your mind, Avatar?" one of the small spirit chirped.

"Is it something we can help you with?" Another hissed, it was tall and had many legs.

"I hope you and the Lady Asami are well!" one screeched with an expression of worry.

"Ha! She belongs with the firebender anyway!" this one was short and colourful, with lots of sharp teeth and a tuff of pink hair.

A peacock-looking spirit appeared to be outraged by the comment, "What are you chittering about you imbecile! It is obvious that she and the engineer are meant for each other!"

"What did you just call me?!" it shouted.

"An imbecile, you walnut!"

A ladybird crossed with a blue cat purred, "I like the lavabender, he was so sweet."

"The earthbender is the firebender's sibling! That would be outrageous for her to date both brothers!"

"Didn't stop the current Chief Beifong!" a bird-like spirit snickered, a few made noises that Korra thought resembled laughter. She raised an eyebrow at them all.

"I liked the original Beifong and the Fire Lord!" a huge spirit that looked like a red rose with the body of a blue snake spoke loudly, "What was his name? _Kanto_?"

"No, no, no!" two said in synchrony, the two heads coming from one body, "That was _his_ codename so they could meet without rumours! His real name was Zuko. _Firelord Zuko_."

Korra smiled widely as she raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Beifong is part Fire Nation?! No wonder she gets so heated…"

"That is old news!" the initial spirit that started the whole debate said loudly, "We are discussing Avatar Korra and Mako _or_ Asami!"

"Why can't she have both?" a tall thin one chuckled, it's deep voice rumbled.

"No, remember the last Avatar to have two love interests?" a tiny spirit peeped, "Can somebody spell 'disaster'?"

"'D', 'I', 'S', 'A'-" one started, thinking really hard.

"I was joking, you dim-witted-"

"Wow, there are no secrets with you guys around…" Korra smirked, they all seemed to have ignored her, still arguing about who they like more. She was growing a little impatient, needing to get down to business.

"I liked Avatar Aang and Master Katara." A purple-tailed spirit said.

"Roku and Ta Min were wonderful together."

"Oh, oh! Warrior Suki and Chief Sokka." Its twin squeaked.

"Mako!"

"Asami!"

"What about General Iroh?!"

"Opal!" everyone looked at the spirit that had just yelled out Opal's name, "What? She is pretty… By human standards." All the spirits sighed and chittered, arguing with each other and trying to make sure their own points were heard.

Korra pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply, "Listen, everyone… As much as I _appreciate_ my love life and the love lives of those before me being discussed by three-quarters of the spirit world, I have something serious to ask." All the spirits looked at each other before nodding for Korra to continue, "What does the name ' _Bú Yi_ ' mean to any of you?" it was almost instantly most of the spirits yelped in terror and evaporated, "Wait! Don't go!" Korra said.

Only two remained by the time name settled over the meadow, the rose-headed snake and the two-headed spirit that were discussing Chief Toph and Firelord Zuko, the snake looked hardly phased while the little two-headed bird looked horrified that Korra had even spoken that name. "Bú Yi is the spirit or betrayal and disloyalty, which is what its name means." The snake hissed, "But you knew that."

"W-why did they all leave?" Korra asked, looking around her.

"He is very dangerous, and as equally feared. Once it has had _established_ fulltime possession over a human or spirit _once_ , it will _always_ have a way to regain possession with supreme ease." The two-headed spirit nervously ducked behind the snake, "Of course, we were stunned when he took over a _second_ human being. It creates a weaker hold over both, balancing its power between the victims." It said offhandedly, glancing down at the small spirit as it tripped over his tail. His rose-like face huffed a laugh and helped it back to his feet, the petals moving to reveal a makeshift smile, Korra was caught in what he had just said.

"It was terrible that he attacked Opal, I should have headed back to the temple earlier. I could have been there in time…" A horrible thought came across Korra, _what if by attacking her, it now has the same kind of possession over her?! I need to get back and get her and Kai away from everyone!_

Both spirits, one with its singular head and the other with its two, exchange a concerned look, Korra could have almost laughed at how they looked so different, yet had similar expressions. "I apologise Avatar, but what name did you say?"

"Opal." She said suddenly very anxious, "Bú Yi took over Kai, then he attacked _Opal_ … Do you think it could be possessing her?! Like Kai…" she looked at the spirits, looking sceptically at the Avatar. She was sounding more and more cautious towards the end of her outburst, "Didn't he?"

"Avatar, Bú Yi only has possession over two human beings, the one he surprised us with by taking over, was the airbending boy, Kai." The rose-headed spirit said slowly, as if Korra hadn't listened to a single thing they had discussed.

"So, Opal is okay?" she sighed in relief, but then her brow furrowed in confusion, "I-if Kai was the _second_? Who was the first?"

"His name is Mewua." The two-headed spirit said, both beaks moving in synchrony.

"However, since Bú Yi has started to reside within him, answers to ' _Master'_."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	12. Together

**_12._ ** **_Together_ **

Mewua Wentai stirred his tea nervously, when he realised Bú Yi was on the return after having made Kai murder the young master, he was more worried for his own life than ever before. He knew he wasn't a perfect man, in fact, he had destroyed countless lives in order to get what he wanted. He pitied himself for how the spirit had consumed _his_ free will, but gave minimal care to how he had consumed Kai's as well. There were a few times where he wished the spirit had simply asked, but he wondered idly if he would have accepted once knowing the consequences.

He lost himself in the memory of when Bú Yi first found him.

_He was in his large, comfortable home in the eastern Earth Kingdom, it was three months after the blow-up he had in Republic City at the Airbenders and the Avatar._

_Birds hoped happily on his window sill as he tossed them bread crumbs, he sighed. He thought about the words that he had spoken out of anger, and regretted every one of them. Not for the reason of offence, but for fear that they will affect a possibly decision later, should they choose to give the land up. He sighed as he called for his maid to fetch him a piece of paper,_ I need to express my apology to Master Tenzin and Avatar Korra. I should have never assumed they would give me their sacred land so soon after the crumple of the templ-

_There was the sound of a clay pot falling to the tiles in the kitchen, "Joo Dee?" Mewua had called, "Joo Dee? Are you well?" he stood from the table and walked towards the kitchen, he rounded the corner to find one of his prized vases smashed into hundreds of pieces. However, he was more concerned about his most reliable maid lying unconscious, "Joo Dee!" he yelled, lowering himself to rest his fingers against her wrist, her heart was strong. He turned and headed quickly to his office to radio for medical help, when a force knocked him to the ground._

_The pain was like nothing he had ever felt, or anything he could have imagined. It crippled him, rendering him into a horrible, swirling black. The pain pulsed through him and he thought he must have died or be dying, floating in the darkness with nothing but his thoughts and constant pain. When he came back to consciousness, the light hadn't far shifted from its position on the floor. There were still birds flying around his window, he was sure that he had been gone for hours, he realised it had only been minutes. He struggled to his feet, he glanced behind him, Joo Dee still needed medical assistance. He turned slowly towards his desk and radio._

_That was the first time he saw it._

_It was hovering over the radio, it was ugly, it was large._

_It smiled._

Bú Yi cleared its throat, bringing Mewua back to the present, he scowled at the spirit, "Forgive me, Bú Yi." He huffed, feeling his heart take off in a run.

The spirit was terrifying.

"Do not apologise, old friend." It huffed almost sarcastically, "I can forgive a wandering mind…" Mewua was about to speak when pain crashed over him, "The first time, was fine, but this is becoming a habit and you need to play your part." Mewua groaned against the pain, "Speaking for one is hard enough, but when we are both in a room together, you will do whatever I need you too. I demand no less, then, and only then, I will free you."

Mewua regretted the partnership, Bú Yi would release him once he had the young master, he realised how selfish it was, but what was someone else's pain to his. Of course, Bú Yi made sure not to inform him that it will always have the potential to regain control if it saw fit to. When they had realised that the men had hit Kai with the tiny spirit portion of Bú Yi, Mewua was sure that he would never be free, he was furious. He quickly worked on an alternate plan to ensure that the outcome would be the same, in public Bú Yi made him out to be immensely crueller, parts of that had begun to seep into his attitude towards everything he once admired.

He just wanted to be free.

Bú Yi released his hold over Mewua, there was a knock on the door, two men entered after a short time. They handed the master letters and spoke briefly, one of the two could see Bú Yi, yet another could not. There were many who joined Mewua without hesitation, knowing that there was a fortune for each in the mining process. There were others who tended to abandon the plans after hearing the Avatar forbade them, Bú Yi found it easy to force necessary and beneficial parties to commit to the plan. The two men left with more jobs to complete for Mewua, closing the door behind them. He spoke softly, "You made him murder that girl… I thought you wanted her."

"I altered my plans." Bú Yi said, staring at him, "The young master will live, I will keep my eyes on them both."

"While… Y-you are remaining with me?" he was terrified at the possibility.

"No." Bú Yi said, "I will take her, but only once she has been healed. It was worth the risk, Kai needed to know that I would stop at nothing to separate them."

…

Lin had her head in her hands as she leant over a cup of tea, most of the steam had gone, leaving the liquid lukewarm and unpleasant. She picked up the teacup, twirling it in her fingers, she sighed. She was trying to concentrate, trying to think of a plan that could help them find, beat and destroy whoever was behind this. She let a scowl set across her face, she wondered why she hadn't arrested the man after the threat to Tenzin and his family. _It was grounds for at least a few hours behind bars and one crappy meal…_ She huffed, _some police chief, I could have stopped this before it had started..._

She heard voices rapidly approaching, she could hear it was Bumi, Kya and Pema, they were all trying to calm someone down, Lin realised who as they burst into the dining area. Tenzin's face was red with fury, as his eyes narrowed in on Lin he stormed across the hall. A few of the acolytes looked confused and others watched with an expression of disbelief, Tenzin stood over Lin and knocked the tea cup from her hand. "Tenzin!" Pema gasped, she had never him be so rude, and especially to someone who could tear him apart in an instant.

He stood over her for a moment, Lin scowled and pushed out from the table, "You got something to say, Tenzin?" she said angrily, she saw it as a sign of condescension and found it very offensive when anyone did that to another person, she stood and looked him directly in the eye, " _Say it_."

"I told you not to release him! You did not respect my instructions!" he yelled, swinging his arm in the direction of the medical rooms.

"I take responsibility for releasing him, Tenzin." Lin growled, "But it was _your_ daughter who snuck out the _window_ after, _you_. Told. _Her_. Not. _To_."

"Because of your careless actions, my daughter was almost murdered!"

"Tenzin!" Kya whispered, "I told you that she will be fine."

"BUT WHAT IF SHE WASN'T!" he yelled loudly, "We could have lost her, Kya!"

"I would have lost her too! We all would have!" she yelled back, "I wouldn't have let it happen! Lin was only doing what she thought was best for everyone!"

"Yeah Tenzin," Bumi said, taking a step forward and placing a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "If it wasn't for Linny, we would have never found out about how the spirit works or-" Bumi was suddenly knocked to the ground, Tenzin's fist was quick and precise. Bumi was in shock, the only times that Tenzin had ever punched him, were _mock-fights-gone-wrong_ or one time where he jumped out and frightened him when he was fifteen.

Lin reacted automatically due to the sudden violence, she wrapped her cables around his wrists and pulled them behind his back. This angered Tenzin, he used airbending to force the cable apart and slip his hands free, he blasted air towards Lin. It knocked her backwards over the table, Kya sent out two streams of water and captured Tenzin's hands. Suyin had arrived down the stairs as she saw Tenzin blasting Lin, she threw her cables towards him, catching his torso as Kya's water caught his hands.

" _What are you doing_?!" Tenzin bellowed.

"You just attacked your own brother and Lin! With all the possessions going around, I am not risking anything!" Kya yelled.

"Me either!" Suyin said, keeping half an eye on Lin as she sat up slightly, rubbing the crown of her head.

"I am _not_ possessed!" Tenzin shouted, the acolytes presents looked between each other.

"That is exactly what a possessed person would say!" Bumi yelled, rubbing his chin.

"Are you possessed, honey?" Pema asked, her hands over her mouth.

" _No_ -"

"You just hit me!" Bumi said.

"You deserved it!" Tenzin huffed, his bad mood now replaced with pure annoyance. Kya kept his hands surrounded in ice, Tenzin decided not to push his luck, _they will never believe me if I fight them…_

"You knocked Lin over a table!" Bumi said, getting to his feet as Lin emerged unscathed.

"You _both_ deserved it." He snorted, "Ask me anything! I can prove that I am truly myself! Come on, something only I would know."

"How will _that_ help?" Suyin said, letting her cables fall loose, worried that she would harm him for no reason if it proved he wasn't under any control.

"If I don't answer, it means they don't know the answer. If I do answer, how could they know unless they were there too?" he said, his face still red with irritation, "I wouldn't even try to answer if I was possessed, just to prove I am not..."

Everyone was silent for a while, in theory, it was perfect, though Bumi was looking sceptical about Tenzin's explanation. They thought hard about something that only Tenzin would know, something each of would also be able to answer if in the same position.

"When you were departing Zao Fu, after asking me to help with the Earth Kingdom, where did Wei's power-disc strike you when it rebounded from the post?"

"My left shoulder." Tenzin said, "I had weaker airbending in that arm for three weeks. It was only after Kya convince me it was all in my head that I was able to relax…"

"At what point of receiving your airbender tattoos did you tell Dad you regretted them with great, large tears in your eyes?" Bumi snickered.

Tenzin scowled, "… The backs of my knees… Then again for the top of my head…"

"Well, I'm convinced!" Bumi laughed, still rubbing his jaw.

"What were we going to call Jinora, if she were a boy?" Pema asked, they had never discussed this with anyone but Katara.

"Aang." Tenzin said, smiling lightly, "That one may be easy if they gave it a moment of thought."

"I have a birthmark shaped like a triangle, where is it?" Lin asked, scowling at Tenzin.

Tenzin hesitated, glancing at his wife, she had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, " _Your_ … Left inner thigh…" Tenzin said softly, blushing slightly, trying to play it off as an offhand, detached comment.

Everyone glanced awkwardly at Lin, Suyin's lips were pressed into a thin, amused line, threatening to burst out in laughter, "He is correct." She said nonchalantly.

"Hmm, must have missed that…" Bumi said loud enough for everyone to hear, although he was actually talking to himself. Lin punching him in the arm, Suyin snickered and the others pulled a face of repulsed humour. "I am just saying! He _could_ have been lying!" he leant towards Lin and whispered, "I _will have to confirm…_ " Lin punched him again this time, throwing him off balance as he hit the ground with an ' _oof'_.

"Why Tenzin," Suyin said slowly, "I think you just came up with the perfect way for anyone to check when Kai and Opal are under possession!"

…

Jinora couldn't stop trailing her finger along the recently healed scar under her shirt, Kya had done an incredible job. The fineness of the blade made it particularly convenient for Kya to heal, however when Jinora had woken up and tried to get to Kai, she had unintentionally undone a bit of Kya's work. The inside of her chest still ached, which she was told to expect, as the water can only do so much.

She was rolling ideas over and over in her mind, she was trying to think a way to beat the spirit and keep everyone safe. _I need to know whether the man is the head of the whole operation… Why would a spirit agree to help someone mine lands that have such a strong spiritual connection and meaning to so many peaceful individuals? Both human and spirits treasure the area, despite the temple being gone._ She huffed a loud breath, she thought about Kai, her stomach filled with butterflies as she realised she finally had a chance to linger on their night together. She felt like her cheeks were on fire and her lips were suddenly tingling, she remembered his hands exploring her body, and she relished in the remembrances of his sighs. It wasn't long before she recalled the circumstances, she could almost feel his bruised, scraped skin beneath her fingertips. _Why did it get Kai? Of all the airbenders? One day, Kai will be a great leader, he will be an important symbol and forever remembered as one of the first masters to follow harmonic convergence, well, once he gets his tattoos… But, he still has a few years before he will have any major pull over the decisions that will be applied to the nation and nomads, it would have made more sense to seek my father._

_No, he would have never agreed to it, everyone would have known something was off… Besides, dad wasn't there when Kai got attacked. Maybe they were seeking someone with pull that was younger, maybe they thought that being more accustomed to change, would result in them swaying a decision to share, or even give the land? Someone who would slip under the radar and no one would expect? Someone everyone trusts? Someone who would assume a lot of responsibility if something was to go wron-_

_Oh._

_Someone like me…_ It all made sense, she was with Kai on the plateau, she was with him when he was knocked to the ground. _They were after me… Kai knocked me out of the way unintentionally,_ she swallow, feeling her throat constrict, as if she was being strangled again. _They wanted him to kill me. They want him to kill anyone who could possibly prevent them from succeeding, they want that land._

She lingered on her attack for a moment, Kai slamming her against the wall, his body had been so determined to harm her. She thought about his urgency to get away from her the night he sought after her, not that he wanted to leave, but as if he thought something would happen if he stay.

 _He was scared._ She held, thinking carefully, _they wanted him to kill me._

The next thoughts caused her hand to fly to her lips, a gasp escaping her lips in heartbreaking realisation. _They were going to make me kill everyone… That is what they are trying to make him do…_ She felt her breathing become erratic, her head felt like there was suddenly a massive amount of pressure expanding within it, she felt dizzy.

Like she would be sick.

Her breaths became shaky, she closed her eyes tightly, _I can't help anyone like this! I can't help anyone at all! I can't help Kai!_

There was a knock at the door, it tore through all she was feeling. It was as if the feelings were chased away, hiding from plain sight, keeping everyone else in the dark. She lifted her head towards the door as it opened, Opal pushed in, closing it behind her. "Master Jinora." She smiled with relief, "How are you feeling?"

"Practically normal." Jinora said softly, she had only just realised that her nails were digging into her hand, "Just trying to piece together what happened before Kai… _Stabbed_ _me_." She folded her hand gently across her lap, sitting politely.

"He thought he was harming the spirit, not you!" Opal said quickly, mistaking her quiet words towards her as being silent fury or crushing fear of Kai, "He would never intentionally harm anyone, especially you."

"I know, I saw the spirit messing with his mind. I should have been more careful when I ran for him…" She was worried about someone seeing her fear, she kept her gaze averted.

Opal's eyes were wide, "You saw the spirit? Did he attack you too?"

"N-no, I can see all spirits. I mean, I am a spiritual master. Why? What does being attacked have to do with seeing the spirit?"

Opal explained that she and Kai had realised that once you have been possessed, it was easy to see Bú Yi, unless he caused himself to evaporate. Opal told Jinora all she knew, from the moment she realised where Kai would be, to when she was attacked and watched helplessly as Bú Yi pursued Kai. Jinora, in turn, told Opal how she had leapt out the window in the medical room to go after them both, when it was made clear to her that no one would willingly let her.

They were interrupted by another hesitant knock on the door, Bolin pushed the door open slightly, he smiled softly walked in. Kai followed him cautiously, he almost collapsed from joy when he saw Jinora sitting up in the bed. He stumbled slightly before he rushed forward, as she hoped down from the bed they crashed into each other, his arms encircling her. There was a sharp pain in her chest when they collided, she ignored it, she couldn't care less at this moment.

He was pulled from her as he cradled her body when she was stabbed, he hadn't been permitted near her since. He recalled as his bloodied fingers traced her tattoos, and his voice cracked as he tried to keep her consciousness with him. He whispered moments shared between them as he watched the mass of people come towards them. He had tried to fight against Bumi and Mako's grips as they took her body from his arms. He had realised that they only wanted to heal her, though a part of his mind had him convinced they would not let him have her again, and from there he went semi-willingly.

Now he could hold her.

She pulled back from him, holding his face in her hands. The only person that she thought could share the fear she felt, the only one she wanted to understand, stood with his body pressed to hers. She never wanted to be let go, he never wanted to hurt her again.

His eyes looked faded, as if someone had been draining their colour, his smile was crooked and looked like it took a lot of effort. She pulled his face to hers, their lips met and Kai groaned softly, the heat rose in his body and he thought he would shiver with the pleasure. His arms hooked around her torso, pinning her to him, her hands tangled in his hair. She opened her mouth and he moved with her, they were lost with other for a moment. They were both back in the bathing room, back with the heat and the desire. Her lips were warm, against his, his were cool with worry. He wanted nothing more than for them to be alone, he wished they could be alone. They both knew, that after all this, they would be able to do nothing but be together.

It was when Bolin cleared his throat and Opal huffed a soft laugh that they tentatively drew back from each other, still not moving more than a few centimetres apart. Jinora blushed and hid her face against his shoulder, he didn't smell like he usually did, but she had missed him too much to care whether the scent was overly pleasing or not.

He was beyond words with guilt, _sure, she is okay… But what happens in a few years' time? She might stop loving me, looking for a reason to leave me…_ He felt a felting of disgust and fear rise in his throat, he opened his mouth, "Jinor-"

"I wasn't your fault." She whispered, still hiding against his shoulder, "I know it wasn't your fault."

"I could have killed-"

"You didn't." she said, pulling back and looking him in the eye, "The sooner we figure out what to do, the sooner we can go back to just being us." She smiled lightly, Kai pulled her back against his chest, rocking her slightly.

"That sounds wonderful." He kissed her eyelids, and then her arrow, keeping his lips against her skin as she held him tightly.

There was another knock, Mako stuck his head through the crack in the door, "I think this is _wher_ -yeah, found him."

Mako pushed through the door, "Mako! You came!" Bolin said, walking towards his brother.

"How could I not? You left about fifteen notes all over my room and one on the back of _my_ _shirt_ …" he stood in the room, upon seeing Kai, he lowered his eyebrow in remorse, "I am sorry that I didn't believe you, Kai. What you went through must have been terrible, and how we all treated you must have been just as hard." Asami poked her head around the lip of the door, before heading in.

"It's all cool." Kai said, shrugging his shoulder, "If anyone of you had appeared to have done it, I would have been the same."

"Hey Jinora, are you okay? How are you feeling?" Asami asked, patting Kai on the shoulder and taking a seat on the end of Jinora's bed.

"The wound is healed, but it still hurts inside." She smiled, Kai swallowed loudly at her words, still feeling mortified. "Aunt Kya says that I will be good as knew in a few days, when they properly saw the wound, they were so relieved."

"Yes, Korra said that it was an inch off being a completely different story."

"Yes, the blade clipped my lung, but Kya specialised in respiratory wounds when she spent a few years in the mountains, they have a bundle of respiratory things up there." She mumbled, absentmindedly rubbing her new scar through her pyjama shirt, "I mean, any more central to my sagittal plane and I may not have been so fortunate…"

"You are one smart human." Bolin said, rubbing the back of his neck while trying to remember what part of the body was called ' _sagittal'_ , he was pulling up blanks.

"I know," she smiled, but quickly turned serious, "but why did you call Mako and Asami here? Is something else happening?"

"Kind of," Bolin smiled, "Su just found me and told me to get you, Asami and Mako. Wei and Wing are guarding Korra while she is still _spiriting-it-up_ , but we need to start planning. I didn't know where they were, but I left notes on both their doors and on the back of their jackets…"

" _Planning_?" Asami prompted, "Planning what?" she was the one that saw Mako walk past with a piece of paper between his shoulder blades. She had laughed until she realised she had one on her back too.

"A course of action, they are brainstorming as we speak… But, _err_ , Kai can't come for obvious reasons..." Bolin said awkwardly, glancing at Jinora then to Kai, still in each other's arms. "Neither can Opal, _just in case_."

"We best get moving then." Mako said, turning and heading towards the door.

"Wait, I will pop down to get a cup of tea before you all leave." Opal turned and grabbed Bolin's hand, "Would you both like one?" she asked Kai and Jinora, they both nodded.

"I will help you carry them back, the ' _brain-trust_ ' can wait." Bolin smiled eagerly, always happy to help and even happier to have a few moments with Opal. Mako and Asami walked towards the door, stopping only when they realised that Jinora hadn't followed.

"Y-you guys go ahead." Jinora said, "I will be after you all in a moment." they hesitated, looking between each other, "I can handle this, _I_ will not be taken off guard again." Though they were sure that she would be fine, Mako refused to leave until Bolin and Opal returned. Asami went ahead to convince the others to wait.

Jinora and Kai sat on the edge of the medical bed, Mako suddenly got a hint of suspicion of why they wanted to have a moment alone. His expression dropped and he pressed his lips into a thin lip, he had his eyebrow raised as he tried to think of a conversation topic. He cleared his throat awkwardly, hoping they knew he was here for safety reasons only, "I-", a blast of air threw him across the room and his body hit the wall hard, he slid down the wall and dropped to his knees before falling forwards. Kai's eyes were wide as he glanced to his left.

Jinora's arms were stretched out before her, her face set in a determined, almost terrifying stare.

"What did you do that fo-?!" Kai was shocked, Jinora didn't say a word as she grabbed a flight suit from the cupboard and striped from her bed-clothes. Kai blinked twice as he watched her body slip comfortably into the suit, his heart sped up abruptly, he couldn't take his eyes off her as his cheeks warmed dramatically. He was still mesmerised as she turned towards him and grabbed his hand, she pulled him towards the window as her free hand fastened the zipper on her suit.

"No one else needs to get put in the way of potential death," she said coolly, she looked outside the window and couldn't see anyone, she glanced back at Mako ad saw he was still very much unconscious, "We can beat this without needing to harm the others."

"We could, bu-" Kai started, but Jinora interrupted him.

"Are we in this together?" she asked, "Or not?"

He looked at her for a moment, the sun coming through the window and lighting one side of her face. Her eyes shone brightly, the brown being enhanced by the light, her arrow seemed to be illuminant against her skin. He smiled, taking her hand in his, "Together, I thought _that_ would be crystal clear."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


	13. Masters

**_13._ ** **_Masters_ **

The pounding seemed to be the first thing that came crashing through to her.

She couldn't even bring herself to make a noise, she could feel her surrounds forming around herself. Her fingers scraped in the dirt, her hair was splayed out around her, every time she exhaled, the particles of dust would fly out in all directions. She let her eyes open, it took longer than she would have liked for the individual pebbles and stones to come into focus. She stared at them for a while, trying to make sense of what had happened. The side of her head ached and she could feel that her hair had matted there, she ran her fingers over it gently. It was sticky and cold, she knew there was a relatively deep cut. She sighed with exertion as her arms pushed her up, she looked around her immediate area. There were tall walls that sloped around the dusty area, no one else was insight. She was in the middle of a large circle, lights blasting down in her and chains linked above.

It became abundantly clear that this arena-like pit, was designed to keep everything that enters inside.

…

Jinora would have been lying to herself if she had said she wasn't worried about Kai. She kept herself tapped in with his energy, waiting for even the slightest change. It was his idea to walk in front of her, that way she can have warning if he turns to harm her. Kai had whispered all he knew to Jinora, about how Bú Yi doesn't seem to be able to watch him non-stop, that only when he wants to see through Kai, in which he then seeks him out. They spent the entire trip mouthing or murmuring, as Bú Yi would not be able to register soft sounds or dim lights. This also meant that Kai kept his eyes mostly closed, only opening them slightly if he tripped or got confused about direction. He was trying to make her feel comfortable with her decision, though if she was honest, she wished she hadn't acted so abruptly. She trailed along behind Kai, she watched as tiny spirits danced around her. Every now and then, she would disappear into the trees, going from branch to branch, then return back to the ground, where the spirits would be waiting for her. One pair she found particularly amusing, they would skip into the other, collide and bounce off the opposite's big, round bellies. Though the spirits were only the size of her own hand, she would chuckle as they flew through the tree trunks to surprise the other. _I am glad some spirits aren't hostile._

...

Her head whipped towards the sound of microphonic feedback, the squeal intensifying the pain she was already feeling. There was a sudden murmur from a small crowd that Jinora couldn't see, she wondered how long they had been waiting for her to become aware. In a moment of terror, she looked down at her body, she was clothed and unbound. She slowly got to her feet, glaring at the blackness and whispers that came from beyond the lights, she still couldn't bring herself to speak. "The master awakens!" A voice yelled through the two speakers, one at either end of the arena. She whipped her head towards the grinding sound, her hair fell in front of her eyes, and she blasted it away with a flick of her wrists.

Someone was using earthbending to raise a section of the wall, creating a doorway-like entrance. A hand burst out of the darkness and grasped the side of the stones, their knuckles were white with effort, though the skin was browned and battered. Jinora knew who it was immediately, she huffed a tearless sob as Kai pulled himself into the arena, the wall behind him grinding closed. _Will this ever end?_ She thought, as she turned her defensive position on the young man she loved.

…

He wanted to turn around and gaze into her eyes, he wanted to turn around and pull her to him, he wanted to feel her lips on his own. He also wanted to keep her safe, which meant that he could do none of the above things. He huffed a sigh, "How is your chest feeling?" He whispered. He knew she was reconsidering her plan for them to storm the mountain as a two-person-bending-team-machine, he wanted her to know that _he_ believes in them. _But what good will that do if I could turn on her in a second?_

"It aches, but nothing I cannot handle." She whispered back. He nodded to himself, it was hard enough to see through his eyelashes as he tried to limit his vision, let alone remembering to keep his voice down. He tried to think of a light-hearted conversation that would put her more at ease, _something that will just remind her that it is me…_

"Do you think the others have found Mako yet?" Kai said, stepping over a branch, the darkness of the night almost caused him to trip.

"Of course, we have been gone for hours. Bolin and Opal were only going to get a cup of tea." She shrugged, smiling softly for the last part, "I bet the first thing Bolin was annoyed about, was making tea for us when we wouldn't even be there…"

"Ha, I bet Bolin convinced Opal to stay a little longer... _If you know what I mean_..." Kai smirked.

Jinora smiled softly, "No, no I don't... Care to _explain_?" Her smile got wider, but she kept her voice serious.

She saw Kai's ears start to redden, "Well, _you know_... I assume that Bolin would have asked for her to have a bit of time... Y-you know, _with_ him..."

"I still don't understand..." Jinora was trying not to laugh at how much Kai was trying to avoid saying anything sexual, which she thought was surprising.

"Like, he was really worried about her. When he realised she was fine, I can imagine he would have wanted to be alone with her. I mean, I did when I heard you were okay." He mumbled the last part, this time, it was Jinora's cheeks that reddened.

"You did?" She asked.

"That was the best night of my life, and you are the best thing that has happened to me. When I knew that you were okay, all I wanted was for us to be alone... But, now, I want to be rid of this spirit-thing before we are again." He murmured the last part quickly, and Jinora could tell he was angry.

"We are going to be okay, Kai. _We will be together_."

...

His glider suit was torn from his body, exposing his chest and arms, his hair was messed up significantly more than usual, and he had fresh scratches down his cheeks and across his chest. His once green eyes looked more faded than ever, now bordering on a lifeless grey, they screamed with pain. She couldn't stop herself from admiring how he looked, how much it reminded her of their first kiss, or the night of their first time of having sex, until the eyes. She knew that he was a massive threat, especially with the amount of hostile energy coming from his body. There was something increasingly more dangerous about how he held his physique now, how he looked as though he hadn't been fed in a number of days. His frame was still strong, but it didn't hide his ribs or his hipbones as well as he had only a few weeks ago. His lip curled up in a silent snarl, Jinora took a step back. She knew not to speak yet, she knew that this wasn't his choice.

She saw his arms tense, she knew what was coming. She manoeuvred her body, spinning on her toes as a razor-sharp gust few past her, the ends of her hair were sliced clean off, she growled as they floated to the ground. _They are out to kill..._ She spun on her heels this time as Kai's second blast aimed for the centre of her body, she thrust her hands towards him and knocked him flat. It became obvious to her that whoever was controlling him, hadn't taught themselves, or been taught, airbender defence techniques. She threw her fists towards the roof of the arena, the torrents heading for the unseen people witnessing this battle. She turned her body back as Kai flew towards her, blasting himself across the dusty ground with his hands. He collided with her, she struggled to have his hands release her shoulder and neck.

…

They had just landed after an hour of gliding, there was a stream leading towards the mountain they were aiming for, and Jinora was desperate for a drink. "This is why I discourage impromptu travel plans." She muttered softly as she lifted her cupped hands to her lips and drank the deeply.

"Hey, you were the one that knocked-out the cop..." Kai huffed quietly, mimicking her, the water was cool and clean, "We could of had a police escort!" He smiled, it was almost too hard for Kai not look at her, he let himself remember what could happen if Bú Yi picked up on him, "This stream runs through the chamber they kept me in before they let me return to you." He whispered, _at least, I think I remembered running water…_ "If we follow it, we should make it there before sun-up. Unless you want to take a break? We have been travelling all night."

"I think we could have ten minutes to collect ourselves." Jinora smiled, sitting on the edge of the pebbly stream.

"You said it, boss." Kai sighed. She let her hands trail across the surface of the running water, she watched as the same two spirits from earlier continued their game. Their blue, glowing bodies colliding into the other, rebounding from their stomachs like they were covered in invisible springs, then diving through trees and stones like they weren't even there. They had followed them from the minute they had landed the first time, trekking on foot and gathering a ground of followers. Jinora knew that repetition in behaviour was a common sign that the spirits were trying to communicate, but she had no idea what they could possibly mean. It was interesting to her, she turned to look at Kai, about to voice her hypothesis, he had his hands behind his head and his eyes closed as he reclined on the bank. She became distracted from her previous thought, he looked so peaceful in the moonlight.

She smiled as she removed on of her hands from the water and ran it over his stomach, he gasped in surprise and his eyes opened. But without looking at her, he smiled and let them close again. She laughed softly at the fact his soft sighs sounded like Pabu's snores, she watched his lips turn into a grin as he grabbed her hand and held it against his chest. Beneath her fingertips, she could feel the pulse of his heart, she couldn't control her bottom lip as it trembled slightly. She leant her body over his, hovering her lips above his own. They brushed together gently, it was almost instantly Kai caught her lips between his teeth. She responded by crushing her mouth against his, he growled a laugh as his arms encased her, pulling her on top of him. "Kai! We need to be wary." She smiled against his lips, speaking softly against them.

"You were the one that started this." He replied with a smirk, he held her tighter as she tried to wriggle away.

"Well, I am stopping it now," her lips showed no sign of ceasing, "We need to be more vigilant."

His eyes fluttered open and he smiled, momentarily forgetting where they were, "Hey, we are only human-"

…

"W-ha-t is yo-ur favourite col-lour?!" She croaked loudly. There was hesitance, his hands weakened for a moment as she thrust away from him. It was like a never-ending, terrible dream. His possession had taken him before the end of his sentence by the creek, Jinora had felt the energy change and hadn't gotten away quick enough. He had rolled his body atop of hers, pinning her down, she had thrashed and Kai had reached for a rock. She couldn't remember past that, and she knew that Kai would never be able to forget.

"What was the year you joined the Air Nation?!" She yelled immediately as she backed away from him, the spiritual energy coming from within flattered. Kai groaned, grasping his head. "Answer me, Kai!"

He lifted his eyes to hers, they were slightly luminous, the green-yellow that has come to represent the horrible reality of Kai's possession, _he is fighting it!_ " _No_ -" his body violently shook and the glow disappeared. "I don't _need_ to answer anything." His voice said loudly, "Your fate is tangled with Kai's. You will either kill _with_ him, or be killed _by_ him."

"You don't have to do this, Kai!" She yelled, she was paying attention to her surrounds, feeling all the energies, not wanting to be caught off-guard by an ambush with another spirit, "Tell me about when we first met!"

Kai charged, swiping his arm towards her body, she shot herself into the air and landed easily on her toes. Kai's body crashed into the wall, he seemed dazed as he turned his head towards her, groaning as he got to his feet. "Bur- _burgundy_ …" he whispered.

"W-what?" Jinora said.

"Burgundy." He seemed to be straining to get the words out, "The sunset, _yo_ -your eyes, _our_ grapes."

"Yes! Yes, Kai!" she yelled, taking a step towards him, "Fight it!"

…

"Let me get this straight..." Lin started, if the situation wasn't serious, she would have been smiling from ear to ear, "Two kids, _young adults_ , got the better, of my _top_ detective... Is that right?"

Mako had Korra's hands massaging circles on the back of his head and neck, water healing all that it could. The unimpressed detective had his arms crossed over his chest and an irritated scowl embroidered over his face, he pouted slightly as he answered, "Yes…" He spoke swiftly to save his pride, "But it was a surprise attack, I was trying to break the tension, and Jinora just-… It was so quick."

"Did she appear like it was against her will?" Tenzin asked quickly, worried only for his daughter becoming like Kai.

"I knew they didn't want me there... For... _Reasons_..." He glanced awkwardly between the people in the room, "Like I said, they got the jump on me and when I came too, they were gone and Bolin was shaking me."

"Where were you two when this happened?" Suyin asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter and Bolin.

"W-we were getting tea!" Opal said quickly.

"Yes! I making, we lots of love tea." Bolin nodded along with his girlfriend's words, he hadn't noticed the words coming out muddled until Opal threw him a look of annoyance. Their heart rates gave it away to the Beifong sisters, their blushing gave it away to everyone else.

"You couldn't have waited until _after_ the meeting?" Mako said, clearly unimpressed with his brother.

" _Oh_! I see how it is!" Bolin said, raising his voice, "When you want ladies over, its all, ' _I need the house tonight, bro. I know, I know, I promised to take you and Pabu out for noddles, but it is gunna have to wait!'_ But when I-"

"That was one time!" Mako exclaimed.

"OH _REALLY_?! It happened with both Korra _and_ Asami! Not to mention the nurse from Republic City Burns Unit _and_ that pretty lady visiting from the Fire Nati-"

"Shut-up, both of you." Lin snapped, "You will drive me to drink with your ridiculous bickering."

"It isn't ridiculous..." Bolin grumbled, Lin shot him a look that made him keep his mouth closed.

"Korra, can you sense her spirit?" Tenzin asked softly. Korra had only returned from the spirit world for less than a minute before Wei and Wing had told her the new developments. She hadn't had a moment to search for her, she had the utmost faith in Jinora, and knew whatever caused her to attack Mako, she could handle.

"Not yet, I haven't." she said, standing, the water still swirling around her fingers.

"Find her, we need to know where they are before something terrible happens." Tenzin said sternly, "Whatever is causing all this must be taken care of."

"I hate to bring up the elephant-koi in the room…" Bumi mumbled loudly, "But how does one attack a spirit? Especially when it is _inside_ a human."

"Inside _Kai_ …" Ikki mumbled, no one had noticed her sudden presence in the doorway.

Korra pursed her lips, she had only seen one person able to remove a spirit from someone's being, and that was with assistance from _another_ spirit. She shivered at the thought of Unalaq and Vaatu, the thought of doing anything similar to Kai made her feel sick, "I-I will get to a spirit vine and seek her out." She nodded, depositing the water back into the pouch that now sat against her hip, a gift from Katara, and headed for the door. She wanted to avoid the thought, and subject, of internal spirit-removal for as long as she could.

Tenzin saw the look of horror in Korra's eyes, "Stay safe, stay _vigilant_." He whispered, as she left the room.

Asami and Mako nodded to Tenzin's words and pursued, Bolin made a noise that sounded like an ' _oop'_ and followed quickly. He never got the non-verbal communication thing that the others seemed to be able to do, Opal shrugged at her mother and rushed after the group. "We need to be ready to go in a seconds notice," Korra said quickly, knowing that they could hear her, "No matter what we find, I think only us should go after them."

"Those two going off alone is what stated this whole situation." Mako said, "I don't think we should leave anyone, who is willing to help, behind."

"What if it is really bad? What if no one makes it out? You want everyone to go down with us?" Opal snapped, thinking of her mother.

"Korra," Mako hurried his pace and stood in front of her, both hands on her shoulders, "You don't have to prove anything. We shouldn't be doing this without all the help we can get."

"Are you saying you won't come?" Korra asked, she knew the answer, but she wanted him to remember his promise.

"Of course I will, I will follow you anywhere." He said, but it was still clear that he wanted more backup.

"Mako, amongst us we have all the elements, plus lava, lightening _and_ kickassery," She glanced at Asami with a small smile, she was already pulling her glove on and smiled back, Mako dropped his hands and she walked past him, "No one has to die today."

"Oi! Don't forget metal." Wei's voice called from down the hall, "No way are you going without us."

"Yeah, we owe Kai an apology…" Wing mumbled, it didn't look like they would take ' _no'_ for an answer.

"Okay, let's find them." Korra nodded.

…

 _Keep control, fuck, Jinor-no-_ he gasped as the pain took him again, his body was walking slowly towards Jinora. It was snarling at her, he knew she wouldn't give up, even if faced with death. Her kisses were so soft, her body was so warm. He remembered her tensing up when she felt his spirit shift, he had felt the pain of possession almost instantly.

He remembered the moment he had realised his body was reaching for a rock, pinning her down as she tried to get away from him, he remembered the feel of it in his hands as it was slammed into the side of her head. The sound would haunt him forever, the look of terror in her eyes would never escape his nightmares. He remembered the fury as Bú Yi gave him momentary control after making him carry her to the base of the mountain, only to be taken by guard-like people. He was beaten again, he attacked two men in one of his moments of relief, he was sure one of them was deceased by now.

Bú Yi and the Mewua had laughed at his idiocy: _"You thought walking with your eyes almost closed, and whispering would confuse us?"_

 _"_ _Your eyes were open and ears listening when the master Jinora_ told _you to come with her. We knew what you were doing the whole time!"_

_"_ _And now, she will join you. Mewua has served me well, now I need Jinora to assist you in removing the nomads. The lands we will claim…" he had trailed off, "When she is weak, we will strike."_

_"_ _You mean, s-she isn't p-possessed yet?" Kai had asked, relief flooding his veins, it was like an anaesthesia._

_"_ _Of course not. I have a wonderfully theatrical plan for her."_

_"_ _It w-won't work." Kai mumbled, "We will win this." Pain crushed through him as he threw his head back and screamed. Thrashing and groaning, Bú Yi chuckled at Kai before letting him feel respite._

_"_ _You let me worry about that. She was still unconscious after you handed her to the guards, my possessing powers would be useless on her in that state. The subject needs to be alert for possession. We can still weaken her… But alertness is crucial."_

He felt all his pent up rage, worry and sadness, he was determined to use it. Bú Yi's hold was stronger now than it ever was, the proximity to Kai was surely the answer. As he was marched to the arena, he knew nothing good was behind the doors, he only had a moment to take in the sight of Jinora, standing battered and beaten, before he realised what was planned.

The moments that he could break the hold were what kept him fighting inside, he needed to tell Jinora to kill him. _She needs to save herself, she needs to live. She needs to get out of here before… Before…_ His arms attacked repetitively, swiping and swinging, blasting unbearable amounts of air at impossible speeds. Jinora managed to deflect and defend herself for an impressive amount of time, considering that the spirit was working Kai's body to the point of potential breakage. He groaned and managed to break for a moment, a single moment, it was all he needed, " _Kill me, or run!_ "

Kai almost crumbled on the inside when Jinora reacted in the opposite way to what he had just begged of her.

She was frozen, her eyes wide.

That was all that was needed.

Her moment of stillness was enough for Bú Yi to use Kai's bending to throw her to the ground, he felt sick as he walked towards her body, laying defeated on the solid, dusty floor of the arena. She was breathing heavily, moaning softly as she tried to collect herself. The wound in her chest must have been causing her incredible amounts of anguish, Kai was crying to himself, begging his body for restraint. She looked up as Kai stood above her, staring down at her with eyes that she knew belonged to another. Bú Yi's long body snaked around his torso, floating up like a halo above his shaggy hair. Jinora's chin jutted out in fury, she was going to look Kai in the eyes, they were still going to win this fight.

…

Korra pulled back from the vine, her eyes wide and her mouth open, she gasped as she broke the connection. Everyone watched her as she stumbled back and looked towards the distant mountain, seemingly hours away from where she stood, _I can't make it…_ She had seen two visions, one from only hours in the past, and one that depicted hours in the future. Kai's hand reach for the rock, Jinora was made unconscious, Korra had screamed to no one. She felt sweat break out across her body, she was having an anxiety attack, her chest felt tight. "Korra?" Asami said softly, recognising the signs, "Korra, honey, breathe."

"I can't get there," her eyes were wide as her hands gripped the back of her head, she was leaning forward slightly, feeling like she would crumple, "Kai is going to kill her, and I can't get there… I can't do this, the spirit is too strong." She had seen Jinora being thrown around, Kai's eyes glowing and his body appearing to break as it performed seemingly impossible tasks.

"Where is ' _there'_ , Korra?" Asami rubbed circles on her back, tracing triangles between her shoulder blades.

"The mountain. The mountain has them…" She whispered, pointing towards the ranges on the horizon. Bolin looked to either side of him, he nodded at Opal, they had practised this a million times, she stood still and straight as Bolin jumped and put all his energy into blasting her into the air with his bending. Everyone was shocked at first, looking at Bolin and then watching as Opal peaked and opened her suit, gliding smoothly far above them, heading for the caves.

He walked towards Korra, "They need us." He whispered, before grunting and taking off across the flats, as he ran, his arms pumped fiercely, the earth beneath him moved up with his feet, he was land-riding in moments. Wei and Wing glanced at Asami, who nodded for them to go, the copied Bolin and took off in the same direction.

"He is right…" Korra breathed, she glanced up at Mako and Asami, "Kai and Jinora are in trouble and all I can do is allow my body to shut down." She muttered, trying to stand straight and pull herself together.

"You have been through a lot, what did the spirits say? They must have a greater plan for someone like Jinora, they would not _just_ kill her." Mako said, he glanced over his shoulder and then up along where the bison were sleeping and floating, he walked away and started calling for Lefty.

Korra concentrated on the conversations she had with the spirits, "They said," Mako jumped out of the way as Lefty and Pepper dropped to the ground, though he had only hailed one, the other always followed, "They said that it's hold over the others gets weaker with the more it possesses…" Mako was now watching Korra speak, "They said that Kai was the second person he possessed, and that Jinora was _supposed_ to be." Mako and Asami exchanged a look as they all climbed upon Lefty, he took off into the air and Korra was still thinking, "Right before I came back, one of the spirits told me that the wilds that grew around the Northern Temple's site are amongst the most spiritual in the world… I didn't even know that. They said that destroying the land around it could release all kinds of chaos, like right before Avatar Wan separated the worlds, just straight-out wars between everyone, spirit _and_ man. But Bú Yi is pushing for this war, I mean, he possessed Mewua, it must want the war to happen if it is using someone who was bidding for the mines..."

"Bú Yi reminds me of Varrick." Asami said. Both Korra and Mako looked at her, "He was willing to throw away my company to start a war. Just so he could gain more power, he would throw away people's lives and homes and a whole company… Sure, he is fine _now_ … But still, he tricked me into helping him; he needed someone for everyone to focus on and someone who knew the business."

" _Someone who knows the business_ …" Mako whispered, he rubbed his chin, thinking quietly, "You mean, like Jinora?"

"Jinora doesn't know engineering?" Asami raised an eyebrow, "Though, it would be no surprise if she did."

"No, you knew the business of engineering, Future Industries has some of the finest machinery, created and designed by you. You know how to get the deals; you are a friend to hundreds of small businesses and thousands of towns and villages." Mako looked between them, "Jinora is like that, but with the spirits. She is known amongst them, loved by them. Bú Yi needs her to rally them…"

"Spirits don't join human wars…" Korra mumbled, not wanting to accept the conclusion Mako had come too.

"This won't be a human war, and with Bú Yi and Jinora's abilities combined, it won't be much of a fight."

…

Jinora hadn't broken eye contact as Kai's body stood over her, he looked fierce and cold. She heard footsteps coming towards her, brushing over the dust and scraping slightly. An older man stood next to Kai, Jinora recognised him from long ago, arguing for the land the once had the Northern Temple atop it. "Mewua," the spirit hissed, "Your time has come, you have done well and will now be freed. Enjoy your riches; the land will be yours by nightfall, mine it, as we agreed."

Mewua turned and faced Bú Yi, now floating at his eye level, "Thank-you, _Master_." He whispered as the spirit moved closer. Jinora watched with alarm as Bú Yi stabbed its tail through Mewua's chest, there was no blood, but there was no doubt that the experience was excruciating. The old man twitched and moaned as Bú Yi began to withdraw its limb, Mewua slumped to the ground as his body became free. He was abruptly dragged from the arena to rest, Jinora mustn't have noticed the other men, she was fixated on the tiny yellow-green spirit that Bú Yi had attached to itself. Its body twisted as it faced Jinora, now scurrying backwards in the dust.

Kai realised what was going to happen, but his body kept him trapped, kept him entombed. Jinora was tossing air at Bú Yi, but it was dodging her blasts as if they were cast by a paper fan. "Stand, human." Jinora shook her head, still shuffling back. "Well... If you won't stand alone…" She furrowed her brow in confusion, but it soon crumpled into horror as she saw Kai walking towards her.

"No… No, no, _no, no, no_ , _Kai, please._ " she cried as she felt Kai's cold hands grasp the tops of her arms and lift her from the ground, holding her to Bú Yi as if she was a gift, as if she was a sacrifice. She could hear him trying to fight against it, his groans coming from behind her as he kept her raised in the air. His inner being was crumbling, he didn't know how a simple human could withstand so much pain, so much heartache. Bú Yi smiled and moved closer, its tail held the spirit, moving closer and closer to Jinora.

"Welcome to the fight." It snarled, pressing the spirit against her chest.

There was a moment when Jinora was sure it was the end, she would be like Kai, under controlled and used to wipe out the airbenders. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks, through the dust and blood, dipping from her chin. _Kai, please, make it be over-_

She heard a grunt of annoyance, and let her eyes flutter open.

Bú Yi was violently trying to force the spirit into her, but it was not absorbing into her being. It let out a ferocious roar and she felt Kai's arms drop her, she hit the ground hard and Kai followed. He was huffing and sobbing as he pulled her to his chest, checking if she was okay, stroking her face and wiping her tears. "W-what happened?"

"I d-don't know!" she said, "It was like the spirit wouldn't fit in me-" she had a moment of clarity, a sudden remembrance of the two spirits that danced around her, jumping through earthly physical objects and rebounding off spiritual ones. Jinora permanently had a spirit within her, _her own_ , her projection was already taking up every millimetre of her, "Kai! I know how to help yo- _NO_!" they hadn't noticed the men walking towards them to pull them apart, one grabbed her shoulders and the other was pulling her by her hands, she was kicking and struggling. Kai was frozen, Bú Yi obviously had him, making him stand still and watch her being taken away, until it could figure out how it had messed up.

Kai's eyes were glowing, she knew that he was trying to fight it. She closed her eyes, blocking out the pain, the fear and let herself disappear from her body.

Her projection was flickering, the distractions were only numbed, she turned towards Kai and flashed towards him. She knew it was a colossal risk, leaving her body open to just the attack she had avoided, but she needed to do this. She needed to try. She held her breath, she prayed to her grandfather that it would work. Her projection flew through Kai's body, Bú Yi realised too late, watching as Jinora's spirit tore its portion from Kai's chest.

Nothing moved for a moment, both Jinora's spirit and Bú Yi's portion seemed to evaporate into the dusty air. Jinora gasped loudly as she returned to her body, she saw Kai open his eyes, his own soft green shone. He seemed dazed for a moment, like he had forgotten where he was, he had been freed, Jinora watched with relief as his brow furrowed in fury, "Kai!" she called out, a smile of reprieve on her face.

It came crashing back to him, "LET HER _GO_!" he yelled, leaping into the air and swing his leg towards them.

 _This cannot be… HAPPENING!_ Bú Yi though furiously, he realized that he had to get out of there before-

The walls crumpled outwards, someone was earthbending them, a pair of twins burst through the rubble, tossing their cables around, fighting and trapping people. A taller, bulkier bender burst through another wall as if it was paper, he leapt through the air, and his fist hit the solid ground, lava exploding from beneath his hands. Bú Yi recognised them as they appeared, the firebender dove into view at his brothers side, they were intent on surrounding everyone they could. Finally the electricity-welding non-bender, the airbender he had previous attacked, and the Avatar came, the airbender swung her hand towards Bú Yi's form, " _There_ _it_ _is_." She snarled in his direction.

It turned to flee but was met with the face of Kai, Bú Yi was distracted long enough for Korra to approach. She closed her eyes, when they opened, they were glowing, her hands moved beautifully with skill and determination.

It raced towards her, it _knew_ it could take her out, something stopped it, someone was bending air in a perfect sphere, keeping itself trapped inside. It turned inside the sphere and saw Kai, his hands moving skilfully and precisely. Bú Yi roared and moved itself towards Kai, planning to attack, when suddenly there was a severe increase in the pressure, Jinora was helping him, and Opal. It couldn't force the sphere to move with its body, it was trapped inside, and it was manic.

Avatar Korra was still walking towards it, she opened her pouch that sat on her hip. Throwing the water across the ground beneath the sphere, the airbenders all released Bú Yi at once.

Bú Yi was sure it could outrun her, or possess her, it was still strong enough to win. She began to move her arms, its body coiled to attack, but that was until it realised what she was doing. Two streams surrounded it, turning slowly, almost with the intent to hypnotise, Bú Yi felt itself falling, felt itself fading. "This isn't the end, you might think you have won now, but I will have the control I deserve! I will retur-"

"Why did you want this war?" Kai suddenly asked, Korra held Bú Yi fast.

"With those wilds destroyed, you would have made thousands of spirits homeless…" Jinora murmured by Kai's side.

"Homeless? Would I have made them _homeless_?" it snarled, "Or would I have opened up the whole world, with the Air Nomads gone again, the spiritual leaders would be next, they would be defenceless against the attacks. We could have taken them all, we would have had two worlds."

"You would have failed." Jinora whispered.

" _We will seeeeee_." Bú Yi hissed, as Korra finally sent him away.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**_ Epilogue _ **

Jinora was pacing back and forth at the foot of the temple, she fiddled with her robes, her hair and the large airbender pendant that hung from her neck. She was waiting for her father, uncle, Korra and Lin, they were to relay the final verdict.

The past weeks had been difficult, with many arguments, Jinora had been allowed to take the room next to Kai's. He often woke up with a shout, sweat covering his body and tears rolling from his cheeks. He knew that he would never be able to forget everything that his body had done, Jinora would only sit with him, until he was able to be calmed down.

Opal dived into spiritual research, she was determined to never be taken off guard again. She and Kai would work tirelessly with Jinora, trying to develop skills that could assist in detection and prevention, in case anything returned. For their efforts, Tenzin decided it was time that they became masters. They had proven themselves to be selfless and persevering, and he said that the younger generations needed to be educated on the dangers they had faced.

She was constantly glancing up at the temple, as today was the day that they were waiting for. Ikki, Kai and Opal received their tattoos that morning, and were to be anointed within the hour. Ikki had sent Jinora from the room, tiring from her constant fidgeting and patrolling of the back wall.

She didn't want to miss any part of the ceremony, but didn't want to be in the dark, she began pacing again.

Finally, she saw Naga bursting towards her in a sprint, the large polarbear-dog halted centimetres from her face and nudged Jinora with her big, wet nose. Korra leapt over the last few stairs, thinking that Naga would trash the ceremony, " _NAGA_! Naga, don't you _dare_ -oh, Jinora! You waited for us?"

"Y-yeah, I wanted to know what to tell Kai and Opal. And Ikki kicked me out because I couldn't stay still." She smiled half-heartedly, "I was making them more nervous than what they needed to be."

"I understand." She smiled, glancing behind her as Bumi and Tenzin appeared at the top of the stairs, followed immediately by Mako and Lin.

"Well?" Jinora asked eagerly.

"Mewua refused to speak to us about Bú Yi, or anything else. He is in very bad shape, the doctors and healers don't think he will last until morning. The pain of possession wreaked havoc on the elderly man's body, some of the damage couldn't be undone." Tenzin said.

"So, Bú Yi could still be out there?" Jinora queried, "And what about Kai? The spirit sent time in him too!"

"I don't think it will strike again, all the investors that knew what Mewua and Bú Yi were aiming to do, and how they were accomplishing it, have been arrested. They all rolled on each other, like the vermin they are." Lin said, crossing her arms over her chest, "And Kai was a lot stronger than Mewua, a lot stronger than most."

"But, only Mewua would know everything!" she yelled, "He is the one we need to talk too!"

"It is all okay, Jinora!" Bumi smiled, patting the young master on the shoulder, "You are all safe now. Korra sent it away, you saw it dissipate!"

"But, Korra admitted that all she did was use her spiritbending! That doesn't remove them, it just ' _cleanses'_ them… It _will_ return, it wants to win."

"I know, Jinora." Korra said, "It will be back one day, it could be six weeks or six centuries. And if that happens, in _any_ of my lifetimes, I will fix it." She took a deep breath and placed her hands on both of Jinora's shoulders, "We know what to look for, the White Lotus is on guard, spiritual masters all over the world have been warned... And thanks to you, we know what it takes to remove a spirit from a human."

"You knew it too…" Jinora mumbled.

"But _I_ was too afraid to do it." She whispered back, "I would have frozen up, but without even being told what to do, you put yourself into the crossfire, you saved Kai."

Jinora sighed.

"And countless others." The Avatar finished with a humble smile. Jinora nodded reluctantly, turning towards the stairs and heading towards the ceremony.

"The Air Nation is safe, and the Northern Temple lands remain in the hands of our people." Tenzin said to the people around him.

"She is right about Bú Yi, Tenzin." Korra said, "I sent it away, but I couldn't destroy it. What if… What if it returns one day, and takes someone with more power? Like the president, or someone like General Iroh?"

"Stop worrying, Korra." Mako said, "You have done all anyone could ask."

"He's right, kid." Lin said, "You did your job, and you did it well. If anything happens, we have what we need to fight again."

"But, until _that_ happens!" Bumi said, suddenly lightening the mood, he offered Lin his arm, "M'lady?" Lin scowled and pushed him away, fighting to keep the smile off her face. She started walking up the stairs towards the temple, "Don't think this will discourage _me_!" Bumi laughed racing up after her.

Tenzin smiled, rolling his eyes and following his brother, "Come along, Korra, Mako. Everyone will be waiting for us."

...

The party was in full swing, everyone either had a drink in their hands, or the faces of the newly anointed masters. They were kissed and held, given praise and congratulations. It was almost as big as Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding, almost. This party, however, was thrown by the Beifongs as a combination end-of-year and Master ceremony celebration. It was on Air Temple Island, and acolytes had travelled from all over the world to celebrate the first post-Harmonic Convergence airbending masters. Tenzin had been very against a public celebration for the trio, stating that air nomads were humble people. Suyin just laughed and added ' _New Year Party'_ , to the invitations saying, " _In the seventy years our families have been associated, a bald monk has never been able to stop a_ Beifong _from having some fun!_ "

Bumi twirled Lin around, she was trying to keep her lips pursed in her normal, unimpressed scowl, but as she was fitted back against his chest everyone could see the corners of her mouth threatening to break into a smile. Asami's hand was wrapped around Korra's and they hurried towards the dancefloor, laughing as they spun each other to the music. Opal was having her head rubbed continuously by Wing, while Wei and Bolin held each other and constantly teared at the sight of her, "So proud, Sweetie. We are _so_ proud." Suyin would whisper, her hand on her only daughters shoulder, Baatar Snr. would nod along with his wife's words.

"So _damn_ proud!" Bolin would sob, hugging her.

Kai had been watching Jinora from across the room for two hours now, every time they tried to walk to each other, they were snatched up by another person. The downside to being newly tattooed, was that the individual was newly bald, so everyone knew where Kai, Opal and Ikki were. Right now, he was in a conversation with General Iroh and Lord Zuko, he wouldn't dare leave it. She was being held in conversation by her Gram-Gram Katara, whom had one arm around Ikki, the other around Meelo. Tenzin came over to greet the Fire Nations Royals, and Kai saw his opportunity to grab a handful of grapes and respectfully bow out of the conversation.

He was almost halfway to her, when-

"Mako! Look at our little brother!" Bolin suddenly yelled across the party, grabbing Kai, his mouth was filled with the small fruits, having been starving since his tattoos were completed at day break, "All grown up and saving the world!" Kai glanced in Jinora's direction and smiled apologetically, his cheeks still bulging with the presence of the small fruits, she too had just been captured by someone new. _At this rate, I will never get to her..._ Mako politely excused himself from his conversation and began to walk towards Bolin, Kai and the Beifongs.

"How does it feel to be a master?!" Wei asked.

Kai quickly swallowed the fruits to answer, "Fine, I guess." Bolin was still hugging him.

"I _would_ congratulate you on the recievence of your tattoos, but the repeated use of the soft blue and arrows has become rather generic, therefore taking attention from the individuality of yourself and achievements and forcing you to become perceived as group, or ' _team'_." Huan mumbled, using his fingers to make quotation marks on the word, 'team'. Suyin shot him a look of annoyance, he quickly cleared his throat, for fear of being roused on later, "However, from an exclusively artistic viewpoint, one could say that the tattoos displayed in contrast against the particular pigments of your skin is somewhat satisfactory, _visually_ speaking."

"Thanks, Huan." Kai smirked, "I like them too."

"Way to go, Kai." Mako smiled, finally reaching the group and rubbing Kai's newly bald head, the freshly tattooed skin stung slightly.

Mako didn't have to be a detective to see that Kai was desperate to get to Jinora, he tried multiple times to distract Bolin, but his arms still trapped the young master. He knew that Bolin wouldn't let him go, he decided to take _drastic_ measures, "Hey Bo, I don't want to alarm you, but, is that Eska? _A_ - _and_ your old _betrothal_ _necklace_?!"

"Argh! _What_?! _Where_?!" He spun around, dropping Kai and ducking behind Opal.

"Run for it, Kai..." Mako whispered as he pushed forward, blocking Bolin's view of him, "Ah, sorry bro, must have been an apparition."

"What. The. _Fuc_ -don't. _Do_. That!" Bolin yelled, Kai grinned as he slunk through the party, still hearing Bolin carrying on, he looked back over his shoulder with a wide smirk. He didn't see Jinora until he had ran into her, they hit the ground with a thump and an _'oof'_. They both had wide eyes and their mouths opened in surprise, Jinora pursed her lips first, laughing softly as Kai tried to get off her. After a minimal struggle, the managed to get back onto their feet. Their pendants had intertwined in the fall, and he grinned sheepishly as Jinora worked to untangle them.

They stood for a moment, smiling awkwardly at each other, neither had words.

He blushed furiously as Jinora suddenly pulled him into a long hug, burying her face in his neck, holding him tightly.

He felt his body warm as his arms encircled her, wrapping around her robes and pinning her body against his own. He felt a smile light up his face and tears of happiness stung his eyes, they pulled back. Jinora's eyes were watery, her own tears threatening to roll from her lashes. He reached his hand out, cupping her cheek, he wiped his thumb over her cheekbone as the tears finally fell. He left no mark against her skin, no sign of difference between them, nothing to stop him from being with her. He leant his head towards her, slowly, he wanted her to know that he was going to treat like she deserved.

Jinora huffed a laugh of impatience, as she grabbed the back of his head and crushed their lips together.

It was like the first time, the world seemed to stop for them, they felt like there was no one else. His arms wrapped around her waist as he lifted her from the ground, she lifted one leg into the air, her lips moulding to his. Their lips made whispers as they moved together, she almost smiled when she could taste the sweetness of grapes on his tongue. They drew back after a moment, she beamed and kissed his forehead, right on the point of his arrow. He let his eyes close and the tear roll down, dropping from his chin and disappearing into the gathered material between them. His blush seemed to make his arrow glow, as did hers. When she pulled back, they gazed at each other, the lights from the party shined brightly. She leant her forehead against his, "We are going to be okay, Kai." Jinora whispered. Kai nodded, not taking his eyes off hers, "We can be together." She murmured, pressing her lips to his arrow again.

They realised that there was perfect silence around them, they looked around them. Bolin was holding Opal, his nose running as he tried in vain to hold his emotions in. Tenzin, Pema and Kya stood with small, proud smiles. Bumi started clapping, beaming as Lin joined. Korra and Asami clapped and Mako whistled, Meelo and Ikki cheered for their sister and Kai, before long, the whole congregation was applauding the pair for their bravery, persistence and sacrifice. Kai lowered Jinora to the ground, they both blushed as everyone carried on for them, it took a moment for the Acolyte band to strike up. Everyone seemed to return to dancing and celebrating, Kai took Jinora's hand in his, twirling her gently and holding her against his body.

"I want to apologise." He whispered, her head was against his chest, hearing his heart beat.

"What for?" Jinora whispered back.

"A great number of things, but mainly, the night I returned..." he was trying to make sure that his voice stayed soft, and that his feet didn't crush hers as they turned.

Jinora pulled back from his chest, she had her brow furrowed in confusion, "W-why?" She asked, "What do you have to apologise for?"

"The way I acted, it was not romantic or gentle... And you deserved so much better, like candles an-and music, and... _A bed_..." Kai glanced down at his feet, they swayed together, their bodies close. He felt her hand catch his chin, lifting it so their eyes met.

" _Kai_ , there _was_ a candle." She sighed, a small smile lighting her face, "Your breath _was_ like music to _me_ , and your sighs..." She blushed as the words came, "I mean, I had a bruise on my lower back from the ledge in the bath, but, Kai... I wouldn't have changed a _moment_." He searched her eyes for the lie, "It was perfect, _you_ were perfect." He felt his lower lip begin to quiver and lowered his head onto her shoulder, she kissed his cheek, "And we have plenty of time to try again _and again_." She smiled, he didn't share her mood, guilt still consuming him. "There is one thing I _was_ wondering..." She whispered, "Could you tell me something?"

"Anything." He whispered back.

"When Uncle Bumi and Chief Beifong walked past the bathing room, as we went in, Bumi said that he told _you_ what love was…" Jinora turned her head to the side, "Is it everything he made it out to be?" she smiled softly.

"Yes." He smiled softly, genuinely, "A lot harder than he made it sound, though."

"Yeah, he made it out to be so easy." She chuckled. Kai stopped dancing, Jinora looked worried at his sudden pause, on reflex from the previous weeks, she felt his energy. She almost visibly sighed when he seemed okay, no foul-play with his spiritual energy.

Kai finally spoke, "Bumi has told you about love?"

"Of course, he is _my_ uncle after all." She smiled softly, wanting him to resume dancing with her.

He bit into his lip, "When did he- _w_ - _what_ did he say to you?"

Jinora half smiled, her eyes softening, "He pulled me aside the morning after you were caught drinking, he was sneaking out of the kitchen with enough food to feed a hundred people." She looked at her feet, then back into his eyes, "He _said_ that he could tell I was not confident in myself, or in what was happening between us. He reassured me with a few short sentences, that we would be fine… No matter what we faced."

"What were his words?" Kai said, a hint of a smirk showed. She bit into her lip, trying to remember the words.

"He said…" she sighed the words brought a smile to her lips, she was just about to continue speaking, when Kai's mouth began to move.

"You can't stop thinking about them..." Kai whispered, she looked at him, "She is always on your mind. In your heart…"

Jinora felt her cheeks redden and her heart ache, her smile became more pronounced, "You just want them to know that they are perfect, even when they think that they are pushing you away." She murmured, he began to pull her body to his, starting to sway to the music again.

"You are just looking for a way to prove how you feel." He said, his hand tightened around hers.

"I just want to tell _you_ …" she bit into her lip, her eyes flickered to his mouth.

"Show you." He leant closer, watching as her teeth released her lower lip.

"That if I had one wish…" Their foreheads were almost touching, their noses pressed against each other's, "It would be to get under the layer of armour you coat yourself in, to keep the world out."

"And make it crystal clear," she let her eyes fluttered shut, her entire being felt warm, felt blissful, she could feel the heat from his lips as the gap was almost closed between them.

He turned his head, leaning into her, closing his eyes, "That _you…_ " his arms held her against him, _"You_ are everything that is right in the world."

"My world."

" _My world_."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


End file.
